Pakistan fuel tanker truck explosion kills at least 140



Pakistani rescue workers gather beside the tanker truck

A fuel tanker wrecked in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, and as villagers converged to collect fuel leaking from the truck, it exploded, killing at least 140 people, according to police and hospital officials.

Nishtar Hospital, which is treating many of the wounded, said in a statement that more than 100 people were injured in the blast. Bahawalpur's Victoria Hospital said it was treating 40 victims, all of whom had suffered burns on at least 70% of their bodies.

A state of emergency has been declared in the city, Punjab provincial government spokesman Salman Sufi said. Hospitals have been placed on high alert.

The truck veered off the road when the driver lost control in Bahawalpur, police official Mohammad Akhtar told CNN. As the tanker sat on the side of the road, fuel began leaking out in large pools.

Hundreds of people from nearby villages, as well as workers at a mango garden -- many of them driving cars or motorcycles -- rushed to collect the fuel in pots, according to the government-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

The blast engulfed everything around the truck, including women and children, APP reported. Many victims died immediately, while others succumbed to their injuries at hospitals.

Police speculate on the  cause

Some of the people gathering at the scene began smoking cigarettes and using their cell phones to inform friends and relatives of the crash, either of which could have ignited the fire, Haroon-ur-Rasheed, a former police official who now handles emergency and rescue operations in Bahawalpur, told APP.

"Yes, sparking from cell phones could ignite fire," he told the news outlet, adding that the tanker also was fitted with batteries that could have sparked the blaze.

Officers with the National Highways and Motorway Police urged villagers to stay away from the vehicle, but to no avail, police sources told APP.

The tanker was carrying 25,000 liters (6,600 gallons) of fuel from Karachi to Lahore, roughly 440 kilometers (273 miles) northeast of Bawalpahur.

Images from the scene showed the truck overturned with a gaping hole atop the tanker where the blast had ripped it open like a soda can.