A reverse video and keyword search led to a recording showing the same scene, but of longer duration, which was posted on a Russian YouTube channel on July 13, 2013.
Other recordings released on the same date show what happened from different angles (1, 2, 3). One of them shows the moment when a truck loaded with gas cylinders hits a bus.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that an Isuzu truck, carrying 119 gas cylinders, and a bus with 28 people on board were involved in the crash. According to the note, the collision occurred on the Moscow Ring Road. The RIA Novosti report states that the driver was injured and received assistance, but does not mention other victims.
The AFP geolocated the scene on the European highway E115 near the Moscow Ring Road, through Google Maps and Google Street View.
Fire risk in electric vehicles
There is a risk of fire in electric vehicles, but it is not common. If it occurs, the flames burn at a higher temperature and require more water to be extinguished.
According to mechanical engineering professor Elham Sahraei, consulted in 2023 by AFP, a sufficiently strong collision of an electric car could theoretically cause an explosion, if the battery casing ruptured and the cells inside the battery were damaged, Sahraei commented. , director of the Electric Vehicle Safety Laboratory at Temple University, in the United States.
“If the crash was severe enough to damage the protective shield and puncture the battery cells inside, the type of images that appear in the videos would not be impossible”Sahraei told AFP.
Another expert, Yang Yang, an academic at the University of Central Florida, who has developed technology to prevent fires in electric vehicles, agreed with the professor: “If two [vehículos eléctricos] “If they collide and break the battery packaging, the batteries will short circuit and the chemical energy accumulated in the batteries will be released as thermal energy, which is an explosion or fire.”.
“Something like lighting fireworks in a confined space.”Yang explained to AFP in an email.
Still, most accidents involving electric vehicles would be similar to those involving combustion cars, Sahraei said. Battery packs in electric cars are covered in sturdy trays and protective shields that should prevent damage to the battery in a potential crash.
The non-profit organization Insurance Institute for Highway Safety carried out 60 high-speed crash tests with various models of electric vehicles without a fire breaking out in any of them, Joe Young, director of media relations for the Institute, told AFP. organism.
However, Sahraei warned that much is still unknown about the safety of electric cars, and with fewer such vehicles on the road than gasoline ones, data is limited.
Professor Paul Christensen of the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom) researches fires and the safety of lithium-ion batteries, and highlighted for AFP the data collected by EV FireSafe, an Australian company specialized in the same topic. The company has recorded nearly 500 electric vehicle battery fires globally between 2010 and June 2023, categorizing each by its cause, location and whether it was an ignition or explosion.
“I am not aware of any collision involving [vehículos eléctricos] and will result in explosions.”Christensen told AFP.
The AFP has verified misinformation related to electric cars previously (1, 2, 3).
