Vietnam calls for nationwide fuel checks to determine cause of vehicular fires

Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) will examine the quality of 3,000 fuel samples from filling stations across the country. Tran Minh Dung, chief inspector of MST, said the tests will determine whether low quality gasoline is the cause of the recent incidents of vehicular fires in the country. Last year’s inspection revealed that the fuels tested were below quality standards. Tests of gasoline samples from vehicles that suddenly burst into flames showed that the fuels used were composed of standard octane, methanol and water. Dung said there were allegations that low octane index of the fuels affected the quality, which in turn caused the vehicular fires. Other factors are also being considered. (January 16, 2012)