More than eight hours in line due to accident on the ARC

Three people shared for The newspaper Their experience while returning home in the early hours of the morning

Ana María* works in Caracas, but lives in Charallave, Miranda state. On Wednesday, July 10, at approximately 5:30 p.m., she took a bus to return home. It was 5:30 p.m. and she had already been warned regarding an accident on the road. What she thought would be just a small delay turned into a wait of approximately six hours to get home.

The woman explained that the bus stopped moving at the Los Ocumitos tunnel and, from that point, she said, she might see what looked like “a parking lot of vehicles.”

On Wednesday, July 10, a gas tanker overturned on the Autopista Regional del Centro heading towards Maracay, Aragua state. Authorities had to carry out transfer work, which consists of transferring gas from one tank to another, and once the maneuvers were completed, the cylinder was removed from the truck.

Photo: Courtesy

The risks of a bad transfer maneuver

Traffic accidents involving vehicles transporting hazardous substances can carry significant risks.

During the process of recovering cargo in the event of a rollover, there is the possibility of causing a leak, which can lead to fires or explosions due to the high flammability of LP gas. In addition, if the gas accumulates in the accident area, there is a real risk of explosion if exposed to a spark or flame.

During this entire procedure, the woman said that a lot of information was circulating in WhatsApp groups. She said that it was said that the crossing would be enabled from 12:00 am because, according to sources, at that time the environment would be cooler.

“There was a moment when I was very desperate. There was nowhere to buy water and we were also hungry because no one expected it to last so many hours,” said Ana María.

He also mentioned that there were people who might not contact their relatives, as some did not have a phone or their battery had run out.

“It was a very stressful situation. Some of our colleagues arrived home between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. And then many of us had to wake up at 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. to go back up to Caracas,” she concluded.

Arrive to try to rest

The testimony of people who spent more than eight hours in line due to an accident at the ARC — Photo: Courtesy

José Gutiérrez lives in Cúa, Miranda state, and arrived home at approximately 2:30 a.m. When he entered, his only desire was to rest and sleep.

“I had to get out of the car because I didn’t know what to do. There were children and elderly people in line. It was really exhausting,” Gutiérrez said.

Luis García, who lives in Charallave, said that the driver of the transport unit in which he was travelling had the opportunity to detour to the old Caracas highway. However, that road was also congested due to the number of vehicles trying to pass through the area to avoid getting stuck in the queue.

Garcia said that because the road is very narrow, a traffic jam was created. In addition, the road is in poor condition, which made traffic difficult.

On WhatsApp, many people said not to go down the old road, but the reality is that it was the only alternative to avoid getting stuck. The other route they suggested was via Las Tejerías, but at that point it was a long walk,” García explained.

Ana Maria, Jose and Luis met for The newspaper the need to enable an alternate route that has optimal conditions in case of this type of situations and the traffic generated in the direction of Maracay (Aragua).

People claimed that the current infrastructure is insufficient and not prepared to handle the number of vehicles that pass through the area every day, especially in emergency situations. They consider that the measure is crucial to avoid collapses on the road sections.

What is known regarding the accident?

A preliminary report from the Bolivarian National Guard detailed that the traffic accident involved two vehicles.

The truck overturned on an Accent model car. Two people were injured and were taken to a health center for medical attention.

The collision occurred at kilometer 26 of the Regional Central Highway, heading towards Maracay.

*Interviewee’s name has been replaced at her request.