Since it was not possible to stop the leaks or pump the gas out, the only option was to let the damaged LNG tanker truck empty itself naturally. At its current rate, this process would have taken weeks, requiring the prolonged closure of one of the country's main highways.

On Saturday night, the Rescue Board successfully transported the leaking tanker trunk to a safe location, away from buildings and roads, where the continued emptying of the tank will not pose a health or environmental hazard. The process is being closely monitored, and all necessary precautions have been taken.

Tallinn-Pärnu Highway remained closed at the crash site overnight, as the Transport Administration wanted to assess any potential damage from the crash and emergency response efforts and ensure conditions were safe before reopening it to traffic.

The road authority announced Sunday that the 34th and 35th kilometers of Tallinn-Pärnu Highway were reopened to traffic at 12:24 p.m.

A second tanker truck, though not leaking, had also been disabled in Thursday night's crash. Even the smallest spark or hot vehicle part could have ignited the natural gas evaporating from the leaking tanker, making it too dangerous to attempt to start up the other vehicle's engine on site.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, the disabled tanker was safely towed out of the hazard zone before being repaired, started up again and transported to the gas company's premises.

Chain-reaction collision

On Thursday, December 26 at 9:07 p.m., the Emergency Response Center received a call about a motor vehicle collision at the 35th kilometer of Tallinn-Pärnu Highway, located in the Saue Municipality village of Metsanurga. A Škoda passenger car had collided with a roadside barrier and veered into a ditch, and a tire from the vehicle struck an oncoming passenger car traveling toward Pärnu.

Other motorists stopped to assist the driver of the Škoda in the roadside ditch, leaving their vehicles standing on the highway. Vehicles approaching from behind were unable to stop in time, resulting in a chain-reaction collision involving multiple cars and two trucks.

The two trucks had been traveling one after the other on the highway when the second rear-ended the first, causing significant damage that left the second tanker disabled and the LNG tanker leaking gas.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is transported long distances under pressure at a temperature of -163 degrees Celsius. In this state, LNG is 600 times smaller in volume than in its gaseous state. Once pressure is released, the gas evaporates, causing the process that occurred at the crash site.

Natural gas is highly explosive at certain concentrations, which is why all potential sources of ignition were removed from the area around the site. At extremely low temperatures, contact with the gas can cause cryogenic cold burns. Over time, however, the gas gradually dissipates into the atmosphere, returning to safe levels.

Rescuers in chemical protection suits tried to stop the leak in the LNG tanker, but the truck had sustained damage to its valves and control panel and was leaking from multiple points, making it impossible to stop.

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