Thursday, September 17, 2015

At Least 85 Killed, 50 Injured In South Sudan Fuel Truck Explosion Sparked By A Cigarette


Image source: BuzzfeedNews

Man sits atop a petrol tanker as they remain stranded in a flooded section of a road while driving from the Ugandan border into South Sudan at Nimule August 27, 2013. At least 85 people were killed and 50 injured in a fuel truck explosion Wednesday in South Sudan, the Associated Press reported.

The explosion occurred in the country’s rural Western Equatoria state.


Buzzfeed News report continues:
According to local officials, the blast occurred when someone lit a cigarette while residents were siphoning gas from a leaking tanker, Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said Thursday.

Hospitals were overwhelmed with the number of injured people, according to Ateny.

“We don’t have medical equipment and these people may not survive because we do not have the facilities to treat the highly burnt people,” Charles Kisagna, the minister of information in Equatoria told Reuters.
Ateny said that blast was “an accident” and not related to the country’s conflict between rebels and the government, Reuters reported.

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