The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Tanker blaze toll passes 150
Many more suffer horrific burns trying to collect leaking fuel
The death toll from an oil tanker fire in Pakistan has risen to 153, with dozens more people in a critical condition, and the number of fatalities is expected to increase.
The disaster happened when scores of people from a village near Bahawalpur, in Punjab province, raced with jerry cans to the spot where the vehicle had overturned to collect leaking fuel.
The crowd screamed as the flames engulfed them, said Saznoor Ahmad, 30, whose two cousins were killed.
Most of the victims suffered up to 80% burns.
Men, women and children were among the dead, many of whom will have to be identified through DNA testing as they were burned beyond recognition, said Dr Mohammad Baqar, a rescue official in the area.
Local TV showed black smoke billowing skyward, scores of burned bodies, rescue officials speeding the injured to hospital and army helicopters ferrying the wounded.
The area was strewn with bodies when the flames subsided and about 30 motorcycles that carried villagers to the site lay charred nearby and eight other vehicles were destroyed, said eyewitnesses.
Residents wandered through around looking for loved ones as the wounded cried out for help.
A loudspeaker atop a local mosque had alerted villagers to the leak from the tanker and called on the remaining villagers to help put the fire out after it erupted.
Mohammed Salim ran towards the smoke carrying buckets of water and sand but said the heat was too intense to reach those in need.
“I could hear people screaming but I couldn’t get to them,” he said.
Abdul Malik, a police officer who was among the first to arrive, described a “horrible scene,” adding: “I have never seen anything like it in my life. Victims trapped in the fireball. They were screaming for help.”