146 killed in Pakistan oil tanker explosion

A photo taken with a mobile phone shows fire raging from the accident site in east Pakistan's Baahawalpur. Picture: Xinhua/Stringer

A photo taken with a mobile phone shows fire raging from the accident site in east Pakistan's Baahawalpur. Picture: Xinhua/Stringer

Published Jun 26, 2017

Share

Lahore, Pakistan - An oil tanker crashed

and exploded on a road in Pakistan on Sunday, killing 146

people, many of whom were collecting leaking fuel before it

ignited, government officials and rescue workers said.

The speeding tanker overturned on a sharp bend on a highway

on the outskirts of the city of Bahawalpur. The driver lost

control when the vehicle blew a tire, a provincial government

spokesman said.

A large crowd of people gathered, many to collect fuel in

containers, and the tanker exploded in a huge fireball about 45

minutes later. Rescue workers said that about 80 people had been

injured.

"People of the area and passers by had started gathering

fuel when it exploded, burning everybody," provincial government

spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan told Reuters.

An estimated 20 children were among the dead, he said.

A general view of the scene of an oil tanker explosion in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Picture: Reuters/Stringer

The accident happened the day before Pakistan celebrates the

Eid al-Fitr festival, when families get together to celebrate

the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Many bodies were burned beyond recognition and television

pictures showed piles of burnt out motorcycles, apparently those

of people who were collecting fuel or watching events unfold.

Police had tried to clear the area before the tanker

exploded but people ignored them, Khan said, adding that the

initial crash had blocked the road, causing a traffic tailback.

The driver of the tanker survived the accident and was taken

into police custody, he said.

The explosion took place on a stretch of highway cutting

through the village of Ramzan Joya.

Khalil Ahmed, a 57-year-old former government employee who

lives in the village, said he had lost 12 relatives in the fire,

which firefighters extinguished in two hours.

"One body has been recovered and 11 others are still

missing," Ahmed said.

A photo taken with a mobile phone shows burned out vehicles at the accident site in east Pakistan's Baahawalpur, a district in Punjab. Picture: Xinhua

"After the spill, people began calling their relatives to

come and gather the oil, and some showed up from nearby villages

as well. There must have been 500 people gathered when the fire

began."

Oil is a precious commodity for villagers in Pakistan, where

more than 60 percent of the population survives on $3 a day,

according to a World Bank survey.

"People were collecting oil in bottles, cans and household

utensils. We tried to get them to move back before the fire

started but no one was listening," Ahmed said.

He estimates that about 100 people from the small hamlet are

missing.

"The day of judgment has arrived for our village," he said.

About 50 people were killed in bomb attacks in Pakistan on

Friday but there was no suggestion of an attack on Sunday.

"According to initial reports, somebody tried to light a

cigarette," said rescue services spokesman Jam Sajjad Hussain.

Police in the area could not be reached for immediate

comment.

About 40 people with serious burns were airlifted to

hospitals in the nearby city of Multan.

Reuters

Related Topics: