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.