|
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Death toll in tanker blast explosion rises to 50
MANILA (Updated 6:35 p.m.) -- The death toll from a tanker explosion in the southern Philippines has risen from 27 to 50 after authorities accounted for the mutilated remains of more victims, officials said Saturday.
The tanker truck was negotiating a downhill stretch of the highway in Tigbao town in Zamboanga del Sur province Friday when its brakes failed, causing it to slam into the side of the mountain before overturning and killing its driver, police said.
Minutes later, someone shouted that there was a fire under the truck, but before people could flee, a powerful explosion demolished the vehicle and blew off the roof of a nearby minibus, hurling it into the opposite lane, provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena said.
Fifty people were killed and at least 65 others were hurt. The injured were brought to different hospitals in the province, about 770 kilometers (480 miles) south of Manila, said provincial social welfare officer Conchita San Diego.
San Diego said many of the victims were passengers of the minibus and onlookers - residents of nearby communities and passing motorists who stopped or were slowed down by the traffic jam caused by the overturned tanker truck.
The truck's owner told police the tanker contained liquefied carbon dioxide that was to be delivered to a Coca-Cola plant in Zamboanga city, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) farther south, Ochotorena said. (AP)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (February 3, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
