MOROGORO: Atleast 60 people perished in Tanzania yesterday when a fuel tanker overturnedand then exploded as people rushed to syphon off leaking fuel. The deadlyblast, which took place near the town of Morogoro, west of the economic capitalDar es Salaam, is the latest in a series of similar disasters in Africa.Morogoro governor Stephen Kebwe said the bodies of 60 victims were at themorgue of the local hospital, where more than 70 people were also being treatedfor injuries. He warned that the toll could rise with victims possibly trappedunder the truck.
Regional policechief Willbrod Mtafungwa told reporters there was a "huge explosion"after the vehicle overturned. Witnesses told AFP by telephone they could seecharred remains of motorcycle taxis and trees scorched by the power of theexplosion. Mtafungwa said the dead were mainly drivers of the taxis known as"boda-boda" and local residents flocking to the scene for the fuelafter the crash. A video posted on social media showed dozens of people busytrying to recover fuel in yellow jerricans.
'Never seen suchdisaster'
The governor saidthe explosion was triggered when a man tried to pull out the truck's battery,while witnesses said one of the people looting the fuel was smoking acigarette. Police later announced the blaze had been brought under control."The Morogoro region had never experienced a disaster of suchmagnitude," Kebwe told reporters at the scene in the locality of Msamvu,about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Dar es Salaam. He said the tankertruck overturned on the roadside and the "fuel began to flow freely"."We have mobilized all the doctors at the Morogoro regional hospital sothe wounded can be treated," he added.
Such disastersare not uncommon in Africa. Last month, at least 45 people were killed and morethan 100 injured in central Nigeria when a petrol tanker crashed and thenexploded as people were trying to gather fuel. In May, a similar incidentoccurred in Niger just a short distance from the airport in the capital Niamey,leaving almost 80 people dead. Among the deadliest such disasters, 292 peoplelost their lives in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2010, andin September 2015 at least 203 people perished in the town of Maridi in SouthSudan.- AFP