Formalin tanker overturns on Lucknow’s Kisan Path, fumes spread

What happened

On the evening of Monday, 26 October 2026, a tanker full of formalin lost control on Kisan Path in the Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) area of Lucknow and overturned. Reports put the time between 6.30 pm and 8 pm. It was carrying the chemical from Sandila in Hardoi district to a plywood factory at Gudamba. The police say a front tyre burst. The load leaked onto the road near the Manpur-Bana underpass, and strong fumes spread over a wide area. People nearby, in villages and hostels, reported burning eyes, cough, itching and trouble breathing. Updated 28 October 2026.

No death has been reported. The tanker driver was admitted with an injury and discharged the next morning, according to the chief medical superintendent of the Ram Sagar Mishra hospital, who also said no patient affected by the chemical came to the hospital, although it was kept on alert.

The response

• BKT police, the fire service and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the spot. Police barricaded the road about 500 m on both sides, and traffic on that stretch of Kisan Path was stopped and diverted.
• Staff and experts from the plywood factory were called to advise on neutralising the chemical. Rescuers went near the tanker wearing oxygen masks, as the fumes got worse as they came closer.
• Soil was spread over the spill to soak it up and cut the evaporation. According to Dainik Jagran, the soil was later dumped in a ditch at the roadside and covered with four dumper loads more, so that the chemical would not turn to vapour and rise into the air. A Dainik Bhaskar report says local people counted about eight truckloads of soil.
• Around 2.30 am on Tuesday a second tanker arrived and the formalin was pumped across. The overturned tanker was then lifted away by crane.
• One carriageway and the service road stayed shut through Tuesday. Dainik Bhaskar’s headline on the morning of 28 October says the highway was still closed 36 hours later.
• The Chief Minister took note of the incident and told officials to speed up the work, according to ETV Bharat.

How many people were affected? The reports do not agree

Nobody has given a counted figure. What exists are estimates and descriptions, and they run far apart.

• Distance: Dainik Jagran and a Times of India report on the first night said the effects reached about 500 m to 1 km. The next-day Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar reports say people within about 2 km had the worst symptoms and the smell was felt as far as 5 km. Navbharat Times says the same.
• People: Dainik Jagran said about 10,000 people were affected. Dainik Bhaskar, quoting local people, said 15,000 to 20,000. Hindustan said more than 10 villages and over 50,000 people were troubled, with hundreds of students in the hostels among them. ABP News said more than 50 hostels were hit and students shut themselves in their rooms.
• Treatment: ETV Bharat’s first report described the situation as under control and the response as a precaution. Dainik Jagran reports that no patient came to the hospital. Times of India on Tuesday reports shopkeepers and residents still complaining of eye irritation, breathing discomfort and nausea, although by then it had eased. Dainik Bhaskar says its own reporter at the spot had trouble speaking and bad eye irritation.

So the honest summary is this. Thousands of people smelt the chemical and many had irritated eyes, nose and throat. No count of people treated has been published, and no serious illness has been reported.

What officials and doctors said about formalin

The Director General of Health Services in Uttar Pradesh described formalin as a liquid used to preserve bodies and tissue samples and in making the glue for plywood and furniture. He said breathing its vapour can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and skin and cause breathing difficulty. The head of the Ram Sagar Mishra hospital said anyone reached by the fumes can have irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin, and a rash may come later. Police advised people who felt irritation to wash the affected area with clean water. We make no health claim beyond this. Our chemical safety guides, chemical storage disasters in India and chemical industry safety, cover the general hazard.

The questions that remain

Dainik Bhaskar’s 28 October report raises three. It says that, according to local people, for about the first three hours the police and rescuers mainly kept people away from the spot before work on the leak began. It asks who answers for the transport of a dangerous chemical and for the response afterwards. And it says there is no sign of action against the owner of the factory the load was meant for, though the paper adds that it could not independently confirm the official position on any action or inquiry. We have found no report of an FIR, a licence check or a case against the tanker’s owner or operator.

What you can do if a chemical tanker spills near you

• Do not go closer to look or to film. The people nearest the tanker needed oxygen masks. Move away, and keep upwind or crosswind of the smell if you can.
• Call 112 and say where it is and what the tanker is carrying, if the placard or papers are visible from a distance. See how to call 112, 101 or 108.
• Wash your eyes and skin with clean water if they burn, as the police advised here, and see a doctor if breathing is difficult.
• Keep children and elders indoors and away from the smell. A villager told Dainik Jagran that washing his face and shutting the doors and windows of his room brought relief.
• Do not drive through the area. Turn back at the barricade, as the police ask. Our guide to what to do at a road accident has the safe-help steps.

For the longer version, see our guide on what bystanders should do when a chemical tanker spills, which covers staying indoors, washing and what to avoid.

If you run a hostel, school or factory near a highway, find out tonight where the nearest chemical-carrying route passes, and agree who will tell students and staff to stay inside and shut windows.

Live or study near Kisan Path? Our Lucknow fire and emergency safety guide lists the district fire stations and the emergency numbers to keep handy.

What is not known

How much formalin spilled, how many people were treated or examined, why the tyre burst and whether the tanker and driver had the right papers, whether the air was measured, and what action, if any, has been taken. The start time also differs, from 6.30 pm to 8 pm. Checked on the morning of 28 October 2026.