Fuel tanker blast kills 57 in Tanzania

A fuel tanker exploded in Tanzania on Saturday, killing 57 people and injuring 65, many of whom were siphoning petrol from the vehicle, which had crashed, state broadcaster TBC Taifa said.

The explosion occurred around 200 km (120 miles) west of the capital Dar es Salaam.

“We have been saddened by reports of an accident involving a fuel truck in Morogoro, which caught fire and burnt several people,” government spokesman Hassan Abbasi said on Twitter.

Police said people were trying to recover fuel from the vehicle, which had overturned on a major road some time earlier, when the blast happened.

The incident occurred in Morogoro region, about 200 km (124 miles) west of the port city of Dar es Salaam.

The city of Morogoro is on a major route for transporting cargo and fuel from the port, which is the country’s commercial capital.

There are fears the death toll could rise.

“The situation is really bad. Many people died, here even those who were not stealing fuel because this is a busy place,” said eyewitness Daniel Ngogo, quoted by Reuters news agency.

Correspondents say disasters like this have happened all too frequently in parts of Africa where some people are willing to take huge risks to remove fuel from tankers and pipelines.

Last month at least 45 people were killed when a crashed fuel tanker exploded in Nigeria’s northern Benue state.