When oil tankers crash in poor
countries, people often rush to the scene to gather the spilt fuel, often with
lethal results. That happened again this week after a tanker crashed on the
outskirts of the city of Bahawalpur in Pakistan on Sunday.
It is reported that the vehicle
overturned on a sharp bend after the driver lost control when a tyre blew. A
crowd of 500 had gathered to try to collect fuel in bottles, cans and
household containers when, about 45 minutes after the crash, the tanker
exploded.
It took firefighters two hours to
put out the blaze. Twenty children were among the 146 dead, and another 80 people
were injured. One local man said he had lost 12 relatives.
Probably the deadliest tanker crash
ever happened on 2 July 2010 at Sange village in South Kivu in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. The vehicle overturned as it was overtaking a bus on a dirt
road. Again local people rushed to collect the spilt fuel, and a lighted
cigarette caused an explosion, killing at least 230.
For the story, see my post of 7
July 2010. See also my posts of 1 February and 12 October, 2009, and 13 July
2012.
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