At least 150 feared dead in Pakistan after oil transporter crashes and explodes

At least 150 people are feared dead and more than two hundred others are injured after a  lorry transporting oil burst into flames in the Pakistani city of Bahawalpur. 

Police said that an oil tanker carrying 50,000 liters of oil was on its way from Karachi to Lahore, when it slipped from the road and overturned in Kachi Pul.

Hundreds were burned as they tried to collect fuel leaking from the vehicle. The injured have been taken to hospital. Firefighters are on the scene trying to control the blaze.

"At least 40 of the injured are in critical condition and are being transferred to hospitals in Multan for treatment. Most of those taken to the hospitals got 70% burn injuries," Dr Rizwan Naseer told the Telegraph. 

He said the bodies were "badly burned and beyond identification" and that the death toll was likely to rise. 

"When the tanker  turned over the residents of the nearby village of Ramzanpur Joya rushed to the site with buckets and other containers, and a large number of people on motorcycles also came and started collecting the spilling fuel," regional police chief Raja Riffat  told the Telegraph 

"It was not clear how the fire started, we started an investigation and still we cannot say anything [about the cause]", he said.

He added: "After about 10 minutes the tanker exploded in a huge fireball and enveloped the people collecting petrol".

According to local media reports people were smoking at the scene of the fire.

The reason for the crash is unclear, but unconfirmed reports said the tanker, which overturned, had been speeding.