Sange, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2010) A tank truck exploded on 2 July 2010 in
South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The truck overturned in the village of
Sange and later exploded, resulting in at least 230 deaths and 196 injured. The tank truck overturned in the village of Sange, near the Congo–
Burundi border. The minister of communications, Lambert Omalanga, said that one local resident was smoking a cigarette, a spark from which ignited the fuel. Among the dead were 36 women and 61 children. Some of the injured had severe burn wounds. A medical source said that the local hospitals "do not have necessary logistical materials to treat those who are seriously injured". It was initially reported that five of the dead were
United Nations peacekeepers, The incident was reported to had occurred on 1 December 2010 when a tank truck loaded with
gasoline lost control. The content of the tank truck spewed on the road leading to an explosion that claimed the lives of about 20 people and leaving several others severely injured. Four vehicles, including two commuter buses filled with more than 24 commuters and two private cars, were burnt. Taiwo Abayomi, the Area Commander of the
Lagos State Traffic Management Authority confirmed the incident.
Okobie, Nigeria (2012) On 12 July 2012, a tank truck in
Okobie, Nigeria, fell into a ditch, spilled its
gasoline contents, and subsequently exploded, killing at least 121. The tank truck attempted to avoid a collision with two cars and a bus, veered into a ditch, and spilled fuel. About 40 minutes after the accident, the tank truck exploded. The death toll was initially placed at 95, including 93 people who perished instantly and two who died after being brought to hospital. The tank truck was returning to the highway following an early-morning rest stop. Meanwhile, the double-decker sleeper bus carrying 39 people left
Hohhot, in
Inner Mongolia, and headed south to
Xi'an. The tank truck was rear-ended by the bus at approximately 2:00 am on the Baotou-Maoming motorway in north China. Following pictures of safety official
Yang Dacai depicting him grinning at the scene of the crash, Chinese officials have launched an investigation into Yang, although Yang said he was simply trying to cheer people. Web users have been outraged at the pictures, and some web users discovered pictures of Yang wearing wrist watches which cost over $40,000, and demanded an investigation into Yang's behavior. However, Yang has said that he "used legal income" to buy these watches. Nonetheless, he was later stripped of all his official duties for "serious wrongdoing" amid reports that officials were also investigating other trails of "wrongdoing." He was later jailed for 14 years on charges of bribery and possessing a large amount of funds on unclear grounds.
Chala, India (2012) On 27 August 2012, an accident occurred on
Indian National Highway 17 (now
NH 66) at
Chala, Kannur District, Kerala, India, when an
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)
LPG tank truck hit a road lane divider, overturned and exploded in a
BLEVE, which resulted in several building fires between 9:30 pm and 11 pm. The accident killed 20 people.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2012) On 1 November 2012, a truck carrying fuel crashed into an
intersection flyover in the east of
Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The lorry hit a bridge
pylon on Khureis Road and the gasoline it was carrying leaked into the surroundings and then ignited.
Al Ekhbariya television reported that the blast killed 23 people outright and injured 111, with the death toll expected to rise even higher; although the Saudi health ministry reported the injury total was closer to 135. An
Agence France-Presse photographer on the scene described widespread damage, with charred bodies and machinery being hauled from the wreckage. Due to the force of the blast, another truck fell off of the flyover. Amateur video showed black smoke billowing into the sky, visible throughout the city. The police also posited that due to it being the
Eid al-Adha holiday, the casualty total was significantly less than it would have been during a normal day, because of vastly reduced traffic. The
Riyadh Police also warned against congregating near the scene of the crash, as roughly 10,000 people took to doing so just an hour after the accident occurred. On 2 November, the Saudi health ministry stated that the death toll was confirmed to have risen to 26 through the night, including Saudis, Filipinos (the lorry driver's nationality), and victims of other nationalities. The crash is expected to cost more than 300 million
riyals. According to
Saudi Minister of Health Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabiah, 90 of the injured have been released from the hospital, but 43 are still under intensive medical care. As a result of the accident, 22 people were killed, including 10 children, and another 31 people were injured. Among the dead was a family of four, including two children aged 11 and 6. Many of the casualties were asleep in their homes along the edge of the road at the time of the accident. Roughly 100 people were left homeless by the accident. Although
Pemex was not involved in the crash, the company said it would help with rescue efforts. allegedly was speeding and lost control of his vehicle. Díaz was taken to the local hospital, where he was arrested.
Eruviel Ávila,
governor of the State of Mexico, returned to Mexico. Ávila was on an official visit to
Vatican City, but after the explosions he decided to cancel his trip. He announced state government-paid funeral expenses of the families of the victims, and affected people will receive
MXN$50,000 (about US$5,000) to "rebuild their homes", and MXN$25,000 (about US$2,000) to buy home appliances. The company Termogas, owner of the truck, announced they will be responsible for damages, if their truck was the cause of the accident. Alfredo Martínez Torres, Secretariat of Urban Development of the State of Mexico, announced at least 110 families that live near the highway will be relocated.
Bintaro, Indonesia (2013) In the morning of 9 December 2013 a
KRL Commuterline train crashed into a
Pertamina tank truck at a
railroad crossing in Bintaro,
Jakarta, Indonesia. At least one female-only car overturned and burst into flames. At least seven people were killed (including the three train drivers) and another 82 were wounded.
Kafr Az-Zayyat, Egypt (2013) On 10 December 2013 a tank truck carrying
gasoline crashed into a
minibus in
Kafr Az-Zayyat, an Egyptian city south of Alexandria. The crash and the ensuing explosion killed at least 13 people. The accident was caused by the burst of one of the truck's tyres.
Kirikiri, Nigeria (2014) This incident was reported to have occurred on 7 January 2014 at Kirikiri,
Apapa, a port area in Lagos State, Nigeria, when a tank truck loaded with about of
gasoline rammed into parked vehicles. The spilling of the gasoline resulted in an explosion that killed about 15 people, leaving several others seriously injured. Sterling bank was affected, one Automated Teller Machine, 11 cars and 60 shops were burnt as well. The spokesperson to the National Emergency Management Agency of the South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye confirm the incident.
Juba, South Sudan (2015) The
Juba tank truck explosion was a tank truck explosion that occurred on 17 September 2015 in a suburb of
Juba, the capital of South Sudan. It killed an estimated 176 people, most casualties coming from the crowd that had converged on the scene of the leaking tank truck. The
Red Cross dispatched aid to the suburb of Maridi after the incident. The death toll increased to 183 people being dead from the incident. It soon increased to 193 people.
Caphiridzange, Mozambique (2016) On 17 November 2016, eighty people were killed and more than a hundred people injured in a fuel tank truck explosion in the town of
Caphiridzange,
Tete Province, Mozambique. The fuel tank truck was en route to
Malawi at the time and carried of
gasoline. The government subsequently declared three days of national mourning on 19 November to pay tribute to the victims.
Bahawalpur, Pakistan (2017) On 25 June 2017, a tank truck exploded near
Ahmedpur East in Pakistan's Bahawalpur District, killing 219 people and injuring at least 34 others. The truck overturned when its driver attempted to make a sharp turn on the
N-5 National Highway. Once the news of the accident spread to nearby villages, hundreds of residents rushed to the scene to loot the truck of its cargo. The truck then exploded; early reports suggested the explosion was caused by someone lighting a cigarette. Around 6:00 am local time, a tank truck carrying of fuel overturned due to the driver sleeping on
N-5 National Highway near
Ahmedpur East, Bahawalpur District, in Punjab, Pakistan. The truck was travelling from
Karachi to
Vehari. News of the accident quickly spread to the nearby village of Ramzanpur Joya, with villagers being alerted via the loudspeaker on top of a local
mosque. A large number of people busy working in mango farms beside the road (one source estimated about 500), including men, women, and children, subsequently gathered at the site to collect leaking gasoline. The crowd ignored attempts by police to clear the area. About 10 minutes later, the truck exploded after leaked fuel from its damaged container caught fire, killing at least 148 people. According to some media reports, the explosion occurred about 45 minutes after the initial truck crash. There were conflicting preliminary reports about the cause of the explosion: some said the fuel was ignited by an attempt to light a cigarette near the overturned tank truck,
National Highways & Motorway Police suspended traffic and set up two diversions, near Noorpur Nauranga and further ahead of Dera Nawaz. The
Rescue 1122 and fire brigade arrived on the site of the incident immediately after the blaze started, and rescue operations were initiated. Firefighters fought the blaze for over two hours before extinguishing the fire. At least 90 of the victims were taken to District Headquarters Hospital and
Bahawal Victoria Hospital in
Bahawalpur.
Pakistan Army helicopters were used to transfer 51 injured people from Bahawalpur to
Nishtar Hospital in
Multan.
Lagos, Nigeria (2018) On 28 June 2018 a tank truck fully loaded with petroleum product fell from the Otedola Bridge at the
Lagos, Nigeria end of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The subsequent leak caused a massive fire. The fire extended to other vehicles approaching the lorry on the busy road. Twelve people perished.
Borgo Panigale, Italy (2018) On 6 August 2018, the collision of a
liquefied petroleum gas tank truck with an
articulated lorry carrying flammable solvents and a
car transporter resulted in a huge explosion on the
A14 motorway within
Borgo Panigale, a neighborhood of Bologna, Italy. It was a case of
boiling-liquid expanding-vapor explosion (BLEVE), where nearly all the tank truck cargo combusted in a matter of seconds upon release, generating a tremendous amount of
thermal radiation. The accident killed two people, injured 145 and caused significant damage to the surrounding commercial and residential area. One span of the viaduct where it happened collapsed and a gash opened in the motorway.
Mbuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2018) On 6 October 2018, in
Kongo Central, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a tank truck collided with another truck in the village of Mbuba and later exploded, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 100 others. Following the crash, villagers of Mbuba started to collect fuel which leaked from the vehicles. After few minutes, fuel began to burn and destroy nearby houses. The United Nations mission in DRC,
MONUSCO, had sent nine ambulances to the
Kisantu, which is where the most of injured were
evacuated to shortly after accident.
Hub, Pakistan (2019) On 21 January 2019, a passenger bus collided with a tank truck in
Hub, Balochistan, Pakistan. At least 26 people were killed and 16 others suffered burn injuries as a result of the accident. The bus was travelling from
Karachi to
Panjgur with more than 40 people on board. The dead bodies were moved to
Edhi Foundation's
morgue in
Sohrab Goth, Karachi. A
joint investigation team was established to investigate the crash.
Morogoro, Tanzania (2019) On 10 August 2019, a fuel tank truck exploded in
Morogoro, Tanzania, killing over 100 people and injuring at least 47 others. It was one of the largest disasters of its kind in Tanzania. The incident happened in the town of Morogoro, which is located west of
Dar es Salaam. A fuel tank truck crashed and people gathered at the accident site to collect the fuel. The tank truck exploded, initially burning 60 people to death. Video footage of the incident began circulating on social media, in which many people can be seen collecting fuel in yellow containers and
jerrycans. Another 55 people were injured in the incident and many suffered serious burns. The explosion occurred at 8:30 am
EAT, 20 minutes after a fuel tank truck overturned while trying to avoid colliding with a motorcyclist. The crash happened near
Msamvu Bus Terminal. The road on which the crash occurred connects Morogoro to the financial capital Dar es Salaam and is heavily used. and continued even when the tank truck burst into flames. A video was posted by local news channel Kwanza TV on
Twitter, showing groups of people attempting to gather fuel around the tank truck. One of the witnesses described the scene as chaotic with a huge fire which made it "challenging to rescue victims. The situation is really bad. Many people died here – even those who were not stealing fuel – because this is a busy place". At 3:00 pm EAT,
rescue operations finished and all the bodies were removed from the scene. Official police figures reported 75 deaths and at least 55 people injured. Morogoro regional commissioner
Stephen Kebwe said it was the worst disaster in the region, and warned of more possible deaths. Afterwards, government spokesperson Hassan Abbas said, "the rescue operations finished by 3 pm local time. The scene was cordoned off and all bodies were removed from the scene into a local hospital for identification." == 2020s ==