A tragedy in Pakistan

A truck carrying fuel oil slid off the road in Bahawalpur district in Punjab.  It may have blown a tire. People from nearby villages came to collect the oil in pots.  Some called friends and families to come and collect  fuel oil from the overturned truck. The police tried to keep people away without success. Somebody lit a cigarette and  the area with people were engulfed in flames.  The total dead is given around 153.  This may rise.  One hospital that is treating 40 of the injured tells they all have burns of 70 per cent of their bodies. 51 with very serious burns have been transported to a larger hospital in Multan by Army helicopter due to their critical condition.  Some of the dead were burned down to their skeleton and identification may be possible only through DNA.

Pakistan is pulling together during this tragedy. Pray for the dead, the injured, their families, and friends.  If you do not pray, please keep them in your positive thoughts.

I watched news feeds and read information from the following links before blogging.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

***UPDATE***https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/world/asia/pakistan-tanker-truck-fire-nawaz-sharif.html

***UPDATE***http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/25/asia/deadly-oil-tank-explosion-pakistan/index.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-40396036

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/25/asia/deadly-oil-tank-explosion-pakistan/index.html

http://www.whio.com/news/world/overturned-oil-tanker-explodes-pakistan-killing-148/Tc7RHVFih3GkyCguZqC20L/

https://www.geo.tv/latest/147022-123-burnt-to-death-as-oil-tanker-catches-fire-in-bahawalpur

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/60-killed-as-oil-tanker-catches-fire-in-bahawalpur/

"People living in roadside villages, carrying domestic pots rushed to the scene to collect oil and they also made phone calls to their relatives living in other villages to immediately come to collect oil," the sources said.

Traffic police had tried in vain to keep the crowd away from the tanker as people, including women and children, continued collecting oil in pots, the sources said.

"Suddenly, [a] huge fire erupted in the oil tanker which engulfed all people standing around the vehicle," the police sources added.

"According to the initial reports, somebody tried to light a cigarette," igniting spilt fuel, Jam Sajjad Hussain, spokesman for the rescue workers service, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.