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.
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.
"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.
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