| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| At least 22 killed, 111 hurt in Riyadh fuel truck blast |
| 2012-11-02 |
| [Dawn] At least 22 people were killed when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday, triggering an kaboom that brought down an industrial building, Saudi state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? reported. Al-Ekhbariya television quoted a Saudi civil defence official as saying that at least 111 people were also injured in the incident. The civil defence department confirmed there were deaths from a traffic accident involving a gas tanker that hit a bridge in eastern Riyadh, causing a gas leak and an kaboom in a nearby heavy machinery and vehicles warehouse, according to the state news agency SPA. “The truck driver was surprised by a road accident on its route, causing it to crash into one of the pillars of the bridge,” front man Captain Mohamed Hubail Hammadi said. He said the incident resulted in a “number of deaths and injuries”, without giving specific details. The civil defence chief, Saed al-Tweijri, said the fire had been brought under control. He blamed the tanker driver for the accident, which he said had resulted in the gas leak setting off an kaboom in the warehouse. The building, several storeys high, was almost leveled by the blast, with only one corner left standing. Several adjacent buildings were damaged and nearby vehicles, including a minibus on the flyover, set on fire, witnesses said. Television footage and pictures posted on social media showed a body lying by burnt-out vehicles and at least two charred bodies seated in a car. More than 100 emergency personnel were combing the wreckage on the flyover and searching for victims in the rubble of the building, which housed the operations of Zahid Tractor, a distributor of heavy machinery. “I was inside the building when the blast came. Then boom, the building collapsed. Furniture, chairs and cabinets blasted into the room I was in,” said survivor Kushnoo Akhtara, a 55-year-old Pak worker, who was covered in dirt and bleeding from multiple cuts over his body. “My brother is still inside under the rubble. There are lots of people in there.” Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... is still on holiday after Eid al-Adha, which began last Friday. |
| Posted by:Fred |