“The tanker caught alight, but our members managed to extinguish the fire quickly. They managed to locate the driver and he indicated that the key for his truck was missing. Members contacted the company and they removed the tanker.”
Sewpersad lauded the efforts of metro police, public order police, rapid response and the K9 unit, who cleared the debris ahead of morning traffic.
He said had it not been for the quick reaction of the teams, the tanker would have exploded.
“Our members averted a disaster. If that fully laden tanker caught alight there would have been a serious explosion.
“Had it not been for their intervention the whole freeway would have had to be closed for hours.”
Sewpersad said protesters were angered after a number of shacks were recently demolished by eThekwini's security management unit.
“They decided they were going to take this protest on to the roadway and block a national highway,” he said.