Footage of moments after oil tanker caught fire in Bahawalpur
An overturned oil tanker exploded in a huge fireball in Pakistan Sunday, killing at least 139 people and injuring scores as crowds scavenging for fuel ignored warnings to stay clear, officials and witnesses said.
The horrific early morning tragedy came hours before Pakistan was due to begin Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The tanker carrying 40,000 litres of fuel overturned on a main highway while travelling from Karachi to Lahore, near the town of Ahmedpur East in Punjab province.
Details were sketchy but some witnesses suggested the tanker had suffered a burst tyre, said regional police chief Raja Riffat.
"When it turned over the residents of the nearby village of Ramzanpur Joya rushed to the site with buckets and other containers, and a large number of people on motorcycles also came and started collecting the spilling fuel," Riffat told AFP.
"After about 10 minutes the tanker exploded in a huge fireball and enveloped the people collecting petrol. It was not clear how the fire started."
Residents could be seen walking past blackened and twisted bodies piled by the roadside. Earlier, television footage showed shooting flames and a thick plume of smoke as firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze.
The charred wreckage of dozens of motorcycles and cars was scattered on the highway, along with kitchen utensils, pots, water coolers, jerrycans and buckets which victims had brought to collect the petrol.
Dozens of villagers and relatives of victims looked on from nearby farmland, many of them weeping.
"What kind of ill-fated day is today?" one woman asked tearfully. Villagers told AFP that many of the victims had been related to each other.
Hafiz Sohail told AFP his uncle and cousin were among the victims. "Everyone in the family and the village is deeply shocked. Nobody is able to explain what just happened," Sohail told AFP.
"It was all fire everywhere I saw. For quite some time I was unable to understand what was going on."
Warnings ignored
Mohammad Shabbir, another villager, said the driver was shouting for people to stay away because the petrol could explode at any time, but no one listened. "What is the use of this petrol, what will you do it with now?" he asked, pointing at a bucket in his other hand.
Pakistan Motorway Police spokesman Imran Shah told AFP residents also ignored police warnings to stay away.
"The death toll has risen to 139 and most of the injured are in critical condition," Punjab provincial health minister Salman Rafiq told AFP, adding that more than 100 were injured.
He said 25 of them have been moved on a C-130 aircraft to Lahore, 10 to Faisalabad and 54 to Multan, with the others still in Bahawalpur Victoria hospital.
Rafiq said he feared the death toll may rise.
"Many bodies could not be identified as they have been charred very badly," Riffat said, as provincial officials said DNA tests were being used.
Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah told media the tanker driver had survived the crash and been taken into custody.
Over 80 people, including children, sustained severe burn injuries when they reportedly gathered to collect oil from the leaking tanker.
They were taken to Bahawal Victoria Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital Sharqia in critical condition, said Rescue 1122 Director-General Dr Rizwan Naseer. Most of those taken to the hospitals got 70% burn injuries, while more deaths are feared.
People in the area had gathered to collect fuel that was leaking from the oil tanker after it toppled over, said rescue sources.
Witnesses said some people in the vicinity were smoking cigarettes, which could have ignited the inferno
According to rescue sources, identities of the deceased cannot be ascertained without obtaining their DNA sample, as their bodies were badly burnt in the incident.
Bahawal Victoria Hospital, which is an hour away from the site of the incident, does not have a burns ward.
Although the inferno has been controlled, the road has yet to be cleared. Besides, rescue work was underway as some of the bodies stuck in the wreck were being taken out.
The motorway authorities have created diversions on the National Highway so that traffic flow is not impeded. The volume of traffic on the route is likely to increase as people would be using the National Highway to travel to their hometowns for Eidul Fitr that is expected to be celebrated in many parts of Pakistan on Monday (tomorrow).
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the incident and demanded the authorities concerned to provide the relevant report. He also sent a helicopter for rescue purposes.
Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, PM Nawaz Sharif and PTI Chairperson Imran Khan expressed condolences.
Four army helicopters with capacity of 50 passengers each are shifting the dead and injured to the hospital. Army jawans are also busy conducting the rescue operation.
This is not the first such tragedy before Eid this year. Recently, there have been two blasts in Parachinar and another in Quetta, claiming a large number of lives. - ASMAA
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