C. Ewbank1, S. Gupta5,8, B. Stewart3,4, A. L. Kushner5,6, A. Charles2,7 1University Of California San Francisco – East Bay,Department Of Surgery,Oakland, CA, USA 2University Of North Carolina,Gillings School Of Global Public Health,Chapel Hill, NC, USA 3University Of Washington,Department Of Surgery,Seattle, WA, USA 4Stellenbosch University,Department Of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences,Cape Town, , South Africa 5Surgeons OverSeas,New York, NY, USA 6Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health,Center For Humanitarian Health,Baltimore, MD, USA 7University Of North Carolina,School Of Medicine,Chapel Hill, NC, USA 8Shock Trauma,Baltimore, MD, USA
Introduction: Oil tanker truck explosions have been reported worldwide, but the circumstances, potential causes, and health effects have not been well-described. To address this gap, identify prevention targets, and highlight the tanker truck-related health burden, we performed a review of literature to better understand this recurrent public health problem.
Methods: PubMed, WHO Global Health Library, Google, and Lexis Uni databases were systematically searched and records were reviewed. All records that reported information about civilian oil tanker truck spills, fires, and explosions occurring between January 1, 1997 and August 12, 2017 were included.
Results: The search yielded 4,713 Lexis Uni records and 1 PubMed record that met inclusion criteria; 932 records met inclusion criteria (19.8% of records reviewed). The Google and WHO Global Health Library searches yielded no previously unreported events. The reports described 224 oil tanker truck explosions. Most of these events took place in the U.S. (54), Pakistan (37), Nigeria (27), India (23), and Afghanistan (14). At least 2,141 people died at the scene as a result of these 224 events, and 2,761 additional people were hospitalized. Explosions in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) resulted in a mean of 12.0 fatalities per event, while in high income countries (HIC), this rate was only 1.1 fatalities per event. This disparity was largely due to “scooping,” the practice of collecting spilled oil for resale from disabled tanker trucks. Scooping contributed to 1,303 of fatalities (60.9%), and was exclusively reported in LMIC.
Conclusion: This review highlights the frequency and associated significant health burden of oil tanker truck explosions. Most of these events began as collisions or rollovers, but the majority of fatalities involved scooping. The findings suggest that it is imperative to promote tanker truck road safety (e.g., mandatory maintenance, tanker truck-specific speed limits, driver regulations), and improve features of oil tanker trucks and safety and security protocols to prevent mass casualty incidents related to siphoning, scooping, and poaching of fuel from crashed or disabled tanker trucks.