Pakistan tanker blast toll reaches 154

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ The death toll from the horrific oil tanker explosion in Pakistan’s Punjab province has increased to 154, the media reported on Monday.

The speeding tanker carrying 25,000 litres of petrol was on its way from Karachi to Lahore on Sunday when it overturned on a highway near Bahawalpur city as the driver lost control when a tyre punctured, reports said.

A large crowd of people gathered, many to collect the leaking fuel. But the tanker exploded in about 45 minutes later. Rescue workers said over 200 people were injured in the horrifying incident, most of them in critical condition.

The toll could further increase as dozens are still in critical condition. “The people of the area and passers-by had started gathering fuel when it exploded, burning everybody alive,” provincial government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan said.