Angellala Creek significant incident investigation
On Friday 5 September 2014 a road train carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single vehicle accident on the Mitchell Highway at Angellala Creek, approximately 30km south of Charleville in Queensland, Australia.
The Explosives Inspectorate conducted a thorough investigation into the nature and cause of the explosion, and released an investigation report in the interest of public safety.
Work completed to date
- On 9 October 2014, the Explosives Inspectorate released an Explosives Safety Alert 86 Ammonium nitrate explodes during transport incident in response to the incident at Angellala Creek.
- The Explosives Inspectorate proposed a change to the Australian Dangerous Goods (ADG) Code for the Hazchem code for ammonium nitrate of UN 1942 from 1Z to 1Y to consider the risk of an explosion. The National Transport Commission (NTC) has implemented this change in the current version 7.4 of ADG Code that was implemented on 1 January 2016, with a 12 month transition period.
- Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has recommended changes to Standards Australia for Guide 50 in the emergency procedure guide HB 76. The Explosives Inspectorate supports these changes to improve the response to an ammonium nitrate incident.
Work still underway
- The Explosives Inspectorate is chairing a national working party that reports to the Competent Authorities Panel for the Transport of Dangerous Goods (CAP) to review vehicle design improvements to prevent fires on ammonium nitrate vehicles and initial emergency response improvements.
- The NTC is reviewing the fire extinguisher requirements for ammonium nitrate loads in the ADG Code to increase the capacity and type on vehicles. This is being considered by the NTC for future updates of the ADG Code.
The aim of the work already completed, and the future work, is to prevent this incident from occurring again in Queensland or around the world. If we do not learn the lessons from Angellala Creek and the other incidents worldwide, it is only a matter of time before another explosion involving ammonium nitrate occurs. It was fortunate that this incident had no fatalities. For those injured by this event, they will have to live with their injuries for the rest of their lives.
Further information
- Download the Investigation report - Angellala Creek ammonium nitrate explosion (PDF, 357KB).
- Read the Explosives Safety Alert 86 - Ammonium nitrate explodes during transport incident.
- Find Explosives Inspectorate contacts.
Angellala Creek significant incident - re-enactment video
-
On Friday 5 September 5 2014, a road train carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single-vehicle accident on the Mitchell Highway at Angellala Creek, approximately 30km south of Charleville in Queensland, Australia.
The truck was travelling in a southerly direction on a clear night in a remote area when it left the road.
It came to rest in a creek bed adjacent to a road bridge and in close proximity to a disused rail bridge.
During the crash, bags of ammonium nitrate and fuel tanks on the truck ruptured, spilling diesel and scattering ammonium nitrate across the crash site.
There was a fire on the vehicle and the driver was seriously injured, but he managed to escape the burning vehicle.
A local man was first on the scene followed by a truck driver shortly after from the south.
The local man left the site and called emergency services from a nearby farm as there was no mobile phone reception at the accident site.
A second truck driver arrived from the north after the local man had left the site. The two truck drivers remained with the injured driver.
The fire on the vehicle burnt for more than 1 hour before the first emergency response crew arrived. Shortly after, a second fire crew arrived at the site followed by a police car.
A small explosion occurred while the responding fire crews were attending to the injured driver.
They were in the process of moving away from the accident site when a second large explosion occurred.
There were no fatalities. The driver and the 7 other people at the scene sustained injuries, most of them very serious.
The road train carrying ammonium nitrate and 2 fire trucks were destroyed. A truck parked to the south and a police car parked to the north sustained significant damage.
The road bridge and sections of the highway were destroyed and the rail bridge sustained major structural damage.
Debris from the explosion was discovered up to 1km from the blast site in all directions. A house approximately 6km north of the accident site sustained damage to its internal walls.