Tanker Driver Dies After Serra das Araras Ethanol Tanker Fire During Deadly Weekend on Brazil’s Roads

Overview

• Crismaldo dos Santos Soares, 52, died on Sunday from severe burns sustained when a tanker carrying about 44,000 liters of ethanol overturned and ignited on the Via Dutra in Piraí (Serra das Araras).
• Firefighters cooled the site and the state environment institute INEA assessed spill risks, after which remaining fuel was transshipped and the corridor was reopened following a roughly 21‑hour interdiction and subsequent maintenance work.
• Police inquiries continue into the Aquiraz case in Ceará, where a tourism bus crossed into oncoming traffic and killed passenger José Almeida on a motorcycle, with the bus driver presenting himself to authorities.
• In Campinas, a 47‑year‑old motorcyclist died after striking the rear of an intercity bus off the Anhanguera, while a separate crash on SP‑75 left another rider in critical condition after an initial hit‑and‑run and a subsequent bus impact with a negative breath test for the bus driver.
• Other fatal crashes reported include a head‑on on the TO‑222 that killed Aurélio Sousa Araújo, a sequence in Rondonópolis that killed Vitor Souza Silva after a second vehicle struck him on the ground, and a motorcycle crash in Divino (BR‑116) that killed a 26‑year‑old man and a 22‑year‑old woman.