'Trapped in the fireball': Overturned oil tanker explodes in Pakistan, killing 153

A life-or-death race was underway to save scores of critically burned victims after an overturned oil tanker exploded Sunday on a Pakistani highway as local villagers gathered to collect the leaking fuel, engulfing them in an inferno that killed at least 153 people and injured 150 more.

Authorities warned the death toll could rise from the accident near Bahawalpur, a city of of about 1 million people near the Indian border. Some survivors suffered burns over 80% of their bodies when flames from the blast swept through the crowd.

Regional police chief Raja Riffat told Pakistan's Dawn news agency it was not immediately clear what ignited the fuel. Firefighters battled the blaze for two hours.

“When (the tanker) 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,” Riffat said. He said the crowd rejected efforts by the highway patrol to clear the area.

“After about 10 minutes the tanker exploded in a huge fireball and enveloped the people collecting petrol," Riffat said.

Local official Rana Muhammad Saleem Afzal told Pakistan's Associated Press (APP)  the Lahore-bound oil tanker had slipped off the road, causing some of the more than 6,000 gallons of fuel to begin gushing out. About 120 people died immediately in the blast, and many more soon died from their burn wounds, he said.

District Emergency Officer Asif Raheem Channar told APP most of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and would require DNA testing to confirm identities.

Haroon-ur-Rasheed, an ex-senior police official and an expert on emergency and rescue operations in Bahawalpur, said it was too soon to determine what caused the explosion. But he said batteries on the truck, cigarettes lit by some people who had gathered to collect the oil or even cellphones could have ignited the blast.

Authorities said scores of motorcycles, cars, trucks and bicycles also burned. The driver of the truck survived the crash and was taken into custody, Riffat said.

The tragedy came on the eve of Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. It also occurred two days after a series of terror attacks left more than 85 people dead. Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif cut short a trip to London and raced home to his mourning nation. He ordered Punjab provincial officials to provide whatever rescue and medical personnel were needed and expressed "deep grief over the heavy loss of life in the unfortunate accident."

The Pakistan army was aiding evacuations; a C-130 cargo plane and several army helicopters scrambled to rush patients to hospitals and burn centers.

Khalil Ahmed, 57, a former government employee who lives in the village, told Reuters he had lost 12 relatives in the fire. He estimated about 500 people had gathered when the blast occurred.

"After the spill, people began calling their relatives to come and gather the oil, and some showed up from nearby villages as well," he said. "People were collecting oil in bottles, cans and household utensils. The day of judgment has arrived for our village."

After the explosion, Mohammed Salim ran toward the smoke carrying buckets of water and sand. But he told the Associated Press 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 local police officer who was also among the first to arrive, described a "horrible scene."

"I have never seen anything like it in my life. Victims trapped in the fireball. They were screaming for help," he told the AP. "We saw bodies everywhere, so many were just skeletons. The people who were alive were in really bad shape."