Islamabad: An oil tanker overturned and burst into flames as crowds rushed to collect fuel that spilled over on a highway in Pakistan's Punjab province, killing over 150 people and injuring more than 140 others, in one of the deadliest accidents in the country. The tragedy came a day before Pakistan was due to begin Id ul Fitr celebrations marking the end of the fasting month of Ramzan. The tanker carrying 40,000 litres of fuel overturned on a main highway while travelling from Karachi to Lahore, near the town of Ahmadpur East in the Punjab province. Most of the victims were trying to collect the spilled oil. The bodies of the victims were laid besides the road as relatives tried to identify them.
The fire was apparently caused by someone who lit a cigarette after people from nearby localities gathered on the highway to collect petrol, officials said. While details were still sketchy, 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,” he said. Residents could be seen walking past blackened and twisted bodies piled by the roadside.
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. 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 said. “It was all fire everywhere I saw. For quite some time I was unable to understand what was going on.” 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.
