Civil defense officials in Makkah averted a fire disaster in King Khalid Street on Tuesday night after a tanker loaded with petrol crashed into another petroleum tanker in a tunnel spilling fuel on to the road and the nearby surrounding areas.

“The collision caused the fuel to reach a distance of up to 300 meters inside the tunnel which was very crowded. But we responded promptly to prevent any fire or disaster,” said Col. Saleh Al-Olayani, spokesperson of the Civil Defense in Makkah.

He said three teams of the rapid action force reached the spot and blocked the tunnel and road as a precautionary measure.

“It could have been quite catastrophic as there was a large amount of spillage and once it starts to burn, these sort of fires are very difficult to put out,” Al-Olayani said.

“However, our crew doused the fire with a high-pressure hose and prevented it from spreading,” he said, adding that 42 professional personnel participated in the operation.