BAHAWALPUR: At least 128 people were killed and scores injured in a fire that erupted after an oil tanker overturned in Bahawalpur early Sunday and crowds rushed to collect fuel, an official said.
The tragedy came less than a day before Pakistan was due to begin Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, with many roads crowded as people travel home for the holidays.
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.
“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,” regional police chief Raja Riffat said.
“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 side of the road. 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 could be seen scattered on the highway, along with kitchen utensils, pots, water coolers, jerrycans and buckets which victims had brought to collect the petrol.
Both Riffat and senior local government official Rana Mohammed Saleem Afzal, speaking to state television, said at least 123 people had been killed. Afzal said more than 100 were wounded.
“Many bodies could not be identified as they have been charred very badly,” Riffat said.
Punjab provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah told private ARY television that DNA tests were being used to identify the dead.
He said the driver of the tanker had survived the crash and been taken into custody.
Motorway Police spokesman Imran Shah told sources they received a call about the accident at around 6.30 am.
Motorway police raced to the scene and tried to keep people away from the tanker, he said, adding that they were ignored as residents continued filling their containers with fuel.
The military said it was sending army helicopters to evacuate the wounded and hospitals were put on high alert. The nearest burns centre is believed to be more than 150 kilometres away.
A doctor in Ahmedpur East, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media, said more than 100 people had been brought to the local hospital with more than 80 percent burns before they were rushed to larger hospitals in Multan and Bahawalpur.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his grief and directed the government of Punjab province, run by his brother Shabhaz Sharif, to provide “full medical assistance”.
