Diesel truck overturns, explodes in ball of flames

A tanker rests on a highway north of Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday after overturning and exploding

ROSWELL, Georgia (CNN) -- A small tanker truck carrying diesel fuel and antifreeze overturned and exploded in a ball of flames Saturday on a busy Georgia highway north of Atlanta.

Police in Roswell, Georgia, said multiple explosions and several car accidents followed, but no one was seriously injured and the driver of the truck was able to walk away. The accident happened on Georgia state highway 400 in Roswell, near Holcomb Bridge Road. Roswell is a northern Atlanta suburb.

Sgt. James McGee of the Roswell Police Department said the accident occurred when a wrecker carrying a vehicle on its bed and towing another vehicle behind it merged onto the highway. Debris fell from one of the vehicles being towed, and when a tanker truck tried to avoid the debris, it flipped over.

Police are still searching for the wrecker. Authorities said the driver may not have been aware of the accident.

A police dispatcher told CNN that all of Georgia 400 was closed for about two hours before the northbound lanes reopened. It was unclear Saturday night whether the southbound lanes had reopened.

The dispatcher said several cars were involved in "fender-bender" accidents in both directions of the highway after the tanker overturned.

A child and his mother, who were driving behind the truck, suffered from minor smoke inhalation.

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