SAUDI ARABIA: 22 dead, 111 injured in Riyadh fuel tanker explosion

Record ID: 189053

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: 22 dead, 111 injured in Riyadh fuel tanker explosion
  • Date: 1st November 2012
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (NOVEMBER 1, 2012) (REUTERS) AMBULANCES DRIVING TO THE LOCATION OF EXPLOSION FIRE FIGHTING HELICOPTER CARRYING WATER COMING BACK FROM LOCATION OF EXPLOSION AMBULANCES RUSHING TOWARDS SCENE WIDE OF SITE / DAMAGE AND SMOKE VARIOUS OF ONLOOKERS GATHERING AT SCENE CIVIL DEFENCE WATER TANKS AT SITE / SMOKE AMBULANCE LEAVING STREET SIGN READING ARABIC AND ENGLISH: "AR RIYADH CENTER" CIVIL DEFENCE WATER TANK DRIVING THROUGH GATE TOWARDS SMOKE BILLOWING FROM SITE OF EXPLOSION CLOSE OF FIRE / SMOKE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT DAMAGED CAR CAR DAMAGED BY STRENGTH OF EXPLOSION LOCATED AT A BRIDGE OPPOSITE SITE WRECKED CAR AND BUS AT BRIDGE CLOSE OF WRECKED CAR VARIOUS OF BLOOD AT THE BACK AND FRONT SEAT OF CAR HIT BY EXPLOSION INTERIOR OF BURNT BUS FIRE LICKING AT THE TYRES OF BUS MORE OF WRECKED CARS AT BRIDGE VARIOUS OF CIVIL DEFENCE FIRE FIGHTERS DOUSING FIRE VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER HOVERING OVER LOCATION OF EXPLOSION
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVABH7FZXLNAVECSCPPIPFLF1PP0
  • Story Text: Twenty-two people were killed and 111 injured when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday (November 1), triggering an explosion that caused the collapse of an industrial building, Saudi state television said.
    The building, several storeys high, was almost levelled by the blast, with only one corner left standing. Several adjacent buildings were damaged and nearby vehicles, including a minibus on the flyover, were set on fire, witnesses said.
    Firefighting services and civil defence water tank vehicles worked to douse the flames on site of the explosion as onlookers gathered.
    The strength of the explosion wrecked several cars and a bus at a bridge opposite the site. Streaks of blood could be seen staining the back and front seat of one car that had been crushed by the explosion.
    A civil defence official at the scene, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a petrol tanker had crashed into a concrete flyover. He and other officials were unable to give further details of the incident.
    Over a hundred emergency personnel were combing the wreckage on the flyover and searching for victims in the rubble of the building, which housed operations of Zahid Tractor, a distributor of heavy machinery.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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