The death toll from a fuel truck explosion
in Tanzania has climbed to 97 while 18 others are still fighting for their
lives, a hospital spokesman said Monday.
 |
| Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa speaks in Morogoro yesterday before the burial of 60 of the 71 people killed in the fuel tanker explosion fire. the death toll has shoot to 97 people |
A massive fireball engulfed a
crowd thronging to collect petrol from an overturned tanker last Saturday near
the town of Morogoro, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Dar es Salaam,
the financial capital.
The initial explosion killed
dozens, with others taken to hospital with burns and serious injuries in one of
the deadliest oil tanker blasts in Africa in recent years.
"As I told you
yesterday, all injured are admitted in intensive
care unit proceeding with treatment; we had 20 of them but unfortunately
two have succumbed to their injuries making the total of 29 deaths out
of 47." said Aminiel Aligaesha, a spokesman for the Muhimbili National
Hospital in Dar es Salaam.
Aligaesha
said that, Rosijo Mollel (35), died yesterday while NeemaChakachaka (30) passed
away today morning. The National hospital that received 47 injured people from morogoro referral hospital, now remains with only 18 patients.
The
flames swept through a large crowd trying to siphon leaking petrol from a truck
that overturned as it swerved to avoid a motorcycle.
Officials said the explosion
was triggered when a man tried to retrieve the truck's battery, creating sparks
that ignited the fuel.
It was the latest in a string
of such disasters in Africa and at least the third this year.
Last month, 45 people were
killed and more than 100 injured in central Nigeria when a petrol tanker
crashed and then exploded as people tried to take the fuel.
Among the deadliest such disasters, 292
people lost their lives in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in July
2010, and in September 2015 at least 203 people died the South Sudan town of
Maridi. - Africa
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