Tanker Truck Blast Kills 230 in the Congo

Posted on Jul 3, 2010

At least 230 people were killed and 190 injured when an oil tanker truck flipped over and blew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The blast was reportedly sparked by a cigarette as local residents attempted to collect oil spilling from the wreck. —JCL

CNN:

The tanker flipped over Friday afternoon, said [Mende] Omalanga, the country’s minister of communications. It was attempting to overtake a bus in Sange, in South Kivu province, on the country’s eastern border,

When oil began to spill from the overturned tanker, local residents attempted to collect the oil. One was smoking a cigarette, causing the tanker to explode, Omalanga said.

The largest group of victims had been sitting in a bar near the accident site watching the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Brazil, he said.

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