A tanker carrying hazardous and flammable chemicals has exploded after overturning on a highway in Maryland, killing the driver and sending a fireball billowing into the sky. The explosion, which occurred in the town of Frederick at around noon Saturday, also damaged several houses and vehicles in the surrounding area. According to local officials, the hazardous chemicals held in the truck’s fuel line were contained and did not reach a nearby creek that flows into Maryland’s Monocacy River. “I’m just grateful that this looks like a fairly routine [kind] of accident that could occur on any highway anywhere in America and this is not anything more challenging than that,” said Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor, as he urged residents to avoid the area where the crash occurred. The accident comes just a month after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which released toxic fumes into the town that have poisoned wildlife and caused alarming health problems among residents.
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