A leaking oil tanker explodes in Pakistan, killing 2 and injuring 56

A leaking oil tanker caught fire and exploded along a dusty road in southwestern Pakistan, killing two people and injuring 56 others, officials said Tuesday.

The explosion happened as firefighters were trying to put out the fire Monday in the Naushki district of Balochistan province, local police officer Atta Ullah said.

Firefighters and people in a crowd that had gathered at the scene were among the injured. The tanker driver and a bystander were killed.

Nearly a dozen of the injured were in critical condition and some were being airlifted to the southern city of Karachi, where better medical care is available, said Waseem Baig, a spokesman for Civil Hospital in Quetta.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti visited the Civil Hospital in Quetta, the capital of the province, and directed doctors to provide the best possible care to the victims.

Deadly incidents involving oil tankers are not uncommon in Pakistan.

In 2017, more than 200 people were killed in Ahmadpur East in Punjab province when a fuel tanker caught fire as residents attempted to collect leaking fuel.

AP