Nearly 200 die in South Sudan tanker explosion
JUBA, South Sudan The death toll in the explosion of a fuel tanker in South Sudan has reached 194, an official said.
There could be more deaths, said Charles Barnba Kisanga, the information minister from Western Equatoria state.
Many of the injured, who suffered severe burns, remain in critical condition after the accident Wednesday outside the southwestern city of Maridi.
Kisanga said there were about 120 patients in a hospital in Maridi, and that 54 people were being treated in the capital, Juba. Patients were sent to Juba to relieve the overburdened hospital in Maridi.
The explosion happened after a crowd rushed to collect gasoline from a tanker that had overturned in an accident in Western Equatoria.
“The explosion ripped through an entire community within minutes,” said Alison Martin, Red Cross branch director in Western Equatoria.
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