Truck Carrying Propane Explodes On Long Island Expressway: Police

QUEENS, NY — A truck ferrying propane tanks through Queens caught on fire after flipping over on the Long Island Expressway early Tuesday, according to police and news reports.

The truck driver crashed about midnight on the westbound side of the expressway near Junction Boulevard, after slipping on a patch of black ice, according to a police spokesperson and a report by the New York Daily News.

The truck rolled over and several of the propane tanks hit the ground and exploded, engulfing the vehicle in flames, according to police, news reports and videos posted on social media.

The driver was hauling 294 propane tanks, the New York Post reported.

Here's a video. You can hear the explosion. I can't see clear what kind of car from my side. I am sure people from the building across may have better shot. pic.twitter.com/iCB0BovEzO
— lm (@springdrops) December 22, 2020

I’m safe, this seems to be across the highway and I have my bug out bag if I have to evacuate but WHAT JUST HAPPENED pic.twitter.com/o8mhKO57re
— God Rest Ye Merry Nellamen (@Nellachronism) December 22, 2020

18 wheeler on Fire. LIE and Horace Harding. pic.twitter.com/xhETzUeD2k
— Kyle Ebert (@TeamCape) December 22, 2020

I feel like I could’ve almost died tonight because there was a huge fire outside my window since a truck crashed into a divider. I’m still shaken up honestly. by the end of it, there were like 50 firefighters outside trying to put this massive fire out. it even spread to a truck pic.twitter.com/oow56WaDEF
— TAYCEMBER (@TAYTORIAA) December 22, 2020

The driver managed to escape the burning truck with only minor injuries and refused medical attention, NBC4 New York reported.

About four hours later, after workers finished clearing debris from the incident, all lanes of the Long Island Expressway at Woodhaven Boulevard reopened.