MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – An oil tanker crashed and exploded on a road in Pakistan on Sunday (June 25), killing at least 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 tyre, a provincial government spokesman said.
Shahabaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab province where Bahawalpur is situated, flew from Bahawalpur to Multan where he visited the injured along with General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major-General Amjad Khattak.
About 40 people with serious burns were airlifted to hospitals in Multan, and Khattak told Reuters that all critically injured people were being moved from Bahawalpur to Multan and the Kharian burns centre at Combined Military Hospital.