An LPG bullet tanker skidded at Yenjira in Renkya village near Nellyadi on National Highway 75 disrupting movement of vehicles for nearly six hours on Friday.
The incident took place around 12 noon and the tanker was bound towards Bengaluru. Police detected gas leak from the toppled tanker and cordoned off the area and stopped the movement of vehicles on the national highway as a precautionary measure.
As the gas leakage was heavy, power supply in the nearby areas was also disconnected.
Vehicles plying from Bengaluru, Hassan, Sakleshpur towards Mangaluru were diverted at Gundya and were instructed to take Subrahmanya-Kadava-Uppinangady stretch. While, vehicles plying from Mangaluru via Shiradi Ghat were diverted at Periyashanti and Uppinangady and were instructed to ply via Subrahmanya Cross-Kadaba-Subrahmanya-Gundya stretch and proceed further.
The tanker was cleared by evening to facilitate the movement of vehicles on the highway.
Tanker driver Paniraj, a native of Tamil Nadu, was seriously injured and shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru. Fire service personnel from Puttur, Belthangady and Bantwal had rushed to the spot and prevented further leakage of gas. Later, the gas was shifted to another tanker, sources added.