The Via Dutra, the asphalt spine connecting Brazil’s two largest economic engines, was severed on Sunday afternoon. At kilometer 273 near Barra Mansa, a tanker truck carrying hazardous materials exploded, transforming a routine transit corridor into a site of sudden, violent thermal release. The blast, occurring shortly before 3:00 p.m., claimed two lives and left four others injured, three of them critically.
The physical scale of the incident was absolute. Beyond the tanker itself, the explosion consumed three passenger cars and a motorcycle, reducing them to scorched frames. The response required a multi-agency mobilization—ranging from the highway concessionaire CCR Rio-SP to federal highway police and specialized firefighting units—as they worked to contain the fallout and treat survivors transported to nearby hospitals in Barra Mansa and Volta Redonda.
Beyond the immediate tragedy, the event paralyzed one of South America’s most vital logistics routes. For hours, both directions of the BR-116 were closed to allow for forensic investigation and debris clearance, resulting in traffic jams that stretched up to 13 kilometers toward Rio de Janeiro. It serves as a stark reminder of the volatility inherent in the industrial supply chains that underpin modern urban life, where the transport of dangerous goods remains a high-stakes necessity.
With reporting from InfoMoney.
Source · InfoMoney
