KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An explosion at a ship breaking yard in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday killed at least seven laborers and wounded dozens of others, police said.

An oil tank exploded while workers were dismantling an old ship, police official Mohammad Abdullah. Initial reports indicated that dozens of laborers remained trapped after the blast in the coastal town of Gadani, he said. Several other workers jumped overboard into the sea as the fire raged, he added.

Abdullah said rescuers were transporting the casualties to a hospital in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.

Shortly after the industrial accident, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued a statement expressing sorrow for the “loss of valuable lives.” He ordered authorities to expedite the operation to rescue those stranded aboard the burning ship, and urged health officials to provide the best possible care to those wounded.

Gadani is one of the world’s largest ship breaking yards and was established in the 1970s. Laborers are often injured while breaking ships there, mainly due to poor safety measures. </s> KARACHI, Pakistan — Police say an explosion at a ship breaking yard in the country's southwest has killed at least seven and wounded dozens of others.

Police official Mohammad Abdullah says an oil tank exploded on Tuesday while workers were dismantling an old ship, which then caught fire. He says initial reports indicate dozens of remain trapped after the blast in the coastal town of Gadani. He says several workers jumped overboard into the sea as the fire raged.

Abdullah says rescuers are transporting the casualties to a hospital in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.

Gadani is one of the world's largest ship breaking yards and was established in the 1970s. Laborers are often injured while breaking ships there, mainly due to poor safety measures. </s> At least eight people were killed and dozens were wounded in a series of explosions Tuesday at a ship breaking yard in southwest Pakistan, officials said.

The blasts happened at the Gadani yard in Balochistan Province, Deputy Commissioner Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah told CNN.

More than 30 workers are missing, according to police officer Rehmatullah Chutta.

The explosions occurred when more than 200 employees were working on an unused oil tanker, Chutta told CNN. He said more than 45 people were injured in the blasts, which rocked the town of Gadani, about 30 miles northwest of Karachi.

Video from the scene shows thick dark clouds of smoke rising from the ship breaking yard.

A medical officer based at Balochistan's Gadani Hospital told CNN that six bodies were brought to the hospital. "The victims are severely burned," Muhammad Younas Baloch said. The hospital went into emergency operations mode to take in and treat the injured, he added. Shortly after the incident, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif released a statement expressing "deep grief and sorrow over the loss of valuable lives in the explosions." The Gadani ship breaking yard is one of the largest in the world, running along 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the coast. </s> Gadani is world’s third—largest shipbreaking centres — after Alang and Mumbai — where more than 15,000 workers are directly employed while another two million indirectly earn their livelihoods from it.

At least 14 people were on Tuesday killed and more than 50 others injured when a series of explosions rocked an oil tanker that was being dismantled at a ship-breaking yard in Pakistan’s southern Balochistan province.

The fate at least 30 workers remains unknown following the explosions at the Gadani shipbreaking yard, where more than 100 people were working on the 8-foot-high ship at the time.

Police and rescue officials said at least 14 bodies have been recovered. “We are not sure how many workers were inside the tanker when the explosions occurred, but the number is said to be around 100,” area SSP Raja Ashfaq said.

Deputy General Secretary of the National Trade Union Federation Nasir Mansoor said there could be up to 200 workers trapped inside the tanker. “We are trying to get the figures.”

Gadani is world’s third—largest shipbreaking centres — after Alang and Mumbai — where more than 15,000 workers are directly employed while another two million indirectly earn their livelihoods from it.

Mr. Ashfaq said the injured had been shifted to hospitals in Karachi. He said most of the dead where those workers who had tried to jump into the sea and drowned or were burnt alive.

Some workers remain trapped inside the ship and a fire engine at the scene was unsuccessful in putting out the fire, reports said.

Naval fire engines and a helicopter reached the site this evening to help in rescue operations.

“The rescue work is taking time because the ship is big and the flames have engulfed it from inside and small explosions can be heard taking place,” the SSP said.

About eight explosions occurred in the oil-tanker due to gas-welding work, and more explosions were feared.

A loud blast rocked a ship docked in the shipbreaking yard, setting the ship on fire. More than 25 people have been rescued, an official of Edhi Trust welfare foundation said.

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.

Sharif also ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The Edhi Trust official said the death toll is feared to could go up. </s> At least 12 people were killed and 58 others injured during a series of explosions that occurred during work on an unused oil tanker in the Gadani shipbreaking yard on Tuesday.

The Deputy superintendent police Hub confirmed the death toll to DawnNews and added that workers said over 100 people were working on the ship at the time of explosion.

The whereabouts of at least 30 other workers remain unknown. Some workers remain trapped inside the ship, whereas others who were able to exit the ship from above threw themselves into the sea, DawnNews reported.

Pakistan Navy was also taking part in the fire fighting and rescue operation and had deployed four fire tenders and two ambulances to facilitate the local administration.

The operation was underway till the filing of this report as the wreckage of the ship was still on fire and the heat was hindering fire fighting efforts. </s> Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET

At least 150 people who had gathered to collect fuel from an overturned tanker truck in Pakistan were killed when it caught fire Sunday, according to The Associated Press.

More than 100 people were injured, many with severe burns.

“Authorities say most of the bodies are burnt beyond recognition and the death toll is likely to rise,” reporter Abdul Sattar in Islamabad reports for NPR. “Children and women are among the injured.”

The oil tanker was traveling to the city of Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province when one of the tires burst, causing it to overturn outside of the city of Bahawalpur. Hundreds of people gathered around it, trying to collect the oil after it began leaking.

“People living in roadside villages, carrying domestic pots rushed to the scene to collect oil and they also made phone calls to their relatives living in other villages to immediate[ly] come to collect oil,” police told Pakistan’s state-run APP news.

They told the APP that police tried to prevent people from collecting oil, warning of the fire hazard, but the crowds ignored the warnings.

“According to the initial reports, somebody tried to light a cigarette, and when the spilt fuel caught fire, leading to the tanker’s explosion,” rescue worker spokesman Jam Sajjad Hussain told Reuters.

“Suddenly, huge fire erupted in the oil tanker which engulfed all people standing around the vehicle,” police told the APP. They said the tanker was carrying about 6,600 gallons of oil.

“At least three cars and more than 70 motorcycles were also destroyed in the flames,” Sattar reports.

Dozens of people are being treated in hospitals; several people were airlifted by helicopter. DNA testing may be required to identify some of the victims, according to the BBC.

It took firefighters more than two hours to put out the fire, Reuters reports.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been in London, is “immediately” returning to Pakistan to respond to the incident, the APP reports. He “has expressed deep grief over the heavy loss of life in the unfortunate accident of oil tanker fire at Ahmad Pur Sharqia, Bahawalpur,” he said in a statement from his office to Reuters. </s> Explosions rocked a stricken Iranian oil tanker in the East China Sea on Wednesday, forcing maritime authorities to suspend firefighting and rescue efforts as a blaze raged on the vessel for the fourth day after a collision with a freight ship.

The explosion on the Sanchi's bow was the latest setback in the multinational effort to extinguish the blaze and forced rescue vessels to move to a safe distance, China's Ministry of Transport said. It was not immediately known if the explosion was large enough to cause the ship to sink.

Earlier in the day, an official with South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries told Reuters the oil tanker could burn for as long as a month.

“We believe flames would last for two weeks or a month considering previous cases of oil tank accidents,” Park Sung-Dong said.

The Sanchi was carrying nearly 1 million barrels of ultra-light oil when it collided Saturday evening with a freighter 160 miles off the coast and caught fire. The cause of the collision remains unclear.

IRANIAN OIL TANKER BURNING FOR THIRD DAY, MAY EXPLODE AS CREW STILL MISSING

Intense flames, bad weather and poor visibility have hampered rescue efforts in the following days. Rescues have also faced the threat of poisonous fumes from the hulking wreck.

Rescuers on Tuesday found a body believed to be a sailor from the Iranian-operated tanker, while a search continued for 31 other missing crew members.The Iranian company who owns the ship said there is still hope of finding survivors.

A spokesman for National Iranian Tanker Co. told The Associated Press in Tehran rescuers "likely" will find survivors.

IRANIAN OIL TANKER BURNING OFF CHINA MAY EXPLODE, BODY FOUND IN SEARCH FOR MISSING CREW

"Since the vessel's engine room is not directly affected by the fire and is about [46 feet] under water, there is still hope," spokesman Mohsen Bahrami said late Tuesday. "We are persistently working to put out the fire and rescue possible survivors."

Mahmoud Abuli Ghasemabadi, the brother of missing Iranian sailor Ehasan Abuli Ghasemabadi, told the AP he and other families remained hopeful for good news.

"I ask countries that are in that region and can offer any assistance to help us deal with this situation as soon as possible," Ghasemabadi said.

It's the second collision for a ship from the National Iranian Tanker Co. in less than a year and a half. In August 2016, one of its tankers collided with a Swiss container ship in the Singapore Strait, damaging both ships but causing no injuries or oil spill.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> Karachi, Pakistan (CNN) At least 153 were killed Sunday when they rushed to collect leaking fuel from a crashed tanker in Bahawalpur, eastern Pakistan, before it suddenly exploded.

The truck veered off the road when the driver lost control, police official Mohammad Akhtar told CNN. As the tanker sat on the side of the road, fuel began leaking out in large pools.

Shortly afterwards an explosion tore the container open like a soda can, engulfing everything around the truck, including women and children, according to the government-run Associated Press of Pakistan

Many victims died immediately, while others succumbed to their injuries at hospitals.

The explosion happened Sunday morning as hundreds of people from nearby villages, as well as workers at a mango garden -- many of them driving cars or motorcycles -- rushed to collect the fuel in pots, according to APP

A Pakistani rescue worker walks by what remains of the tanker truck.

A Pakistani rescue worker walks by what remains of the tanker truck.

People gather behind burned motorcycles and vehicles at the scene of the explosion.

People gather behind burned motorcycles and vehicles at the scene of the explosion.

A burned motorcycle stands next to the wreckage of the tanker truck.

A burned motorcycle stands next to the wreckage of the tanker truck.

Victims are loaded onto a stretcher outside a hospital in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Victims are loaded onto a stretcher outside a hospital in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

A victim of the blast is brought to a hospital in Bahawalpur.

A victim of the blast is brought to a hospital in Bahawalpur.

Burned bodies are strewn around the wreckage of the tanker.

Burned bodies are strewn around the wreckage of the tanker.

A tanker truck caught fire then exploded after running off the road and overturning near the eastern Pakistani village of Bahawalpur on Sunday, June 25. Before the explosion, villagers had surrounded the truck to collect spilled fuel.

A tanker truck caught fire then exploded after running off the road and overturning near the eastern Pakistani village of Bahawalpur on Sunday, June 25. Before the explosion, villagers had surrounded the truck to collect spilled fuel.

Nishtar Hospital, where many of the wounded were taken, said more than 100 people were injured in the blast. Bahawal Victoria Hospital said it was treating 40 victims, all of whom had suffered burns on at least 70% of their bodies.

Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital Dr. Javed Iqbal told CNN the death toll had risen to 153 people as of Monday afternoon.

At the scene of the blast, photos showed the tanker surrounded by the husks of burned-out motorbikes and automobiles, their windows and tires melted away from the heat.

According to APP, the explosion destroyed 75 motorbikes and six automobiles. Bodies were pulled from cars and a motorcycle rickshaw.

A state of emergency was declared in Bahawalpur, Punjab provincial government spokesman Salman Sufi said.

Police speculate on cause

It's not known what cause the wreck to ignite, but some people gathering at the scene began smoking cigarettes and using their cell phones to inform friends and relatives of the crash.

"Sparking from cell phones could ignite fire," Haroon-ur-Rasheed, a former police official who now handles emergency and rescue operations in Bahawalpur, told the APP.

He added the tanker also was fitted with batteries that could have sparked the blaze.

Officers with the National Highways and Motorway Police urged villagers to stay away from the vehicle, but to no avail, police sources told APP.

The tanker was carrying 25,000 liters (6,600 gallons) of fuel from Karachi to Lahore, roughly 440 kilometers (273 miles) northeast of Bawalpahur.

Images from the scene showed the truck overturned with a gaping hole atop the tanker where the blast had ripped open.

Mohammad Shabbir, a villager, told CNN affiliate Geo TV that the vehicle's driver had warned people to stay away from the truck but his warnings were not heeded.

"What is the use of this petrol? What will you do with it now?" he asked, gesturing towards a bucket in his hand.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of Pakistan's military, said army helicopters transported 51 people 60 miles (97 kilometers) north to Combined Military Hospital Multan. They're all in critical confiction, ISPR said.

It added that the road had been reopened and that traffic had started to flow again.

'Deep grief'

Shortly after the accident, Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif "expressed deep grief over the heavy loss of life."

"The Prime Minister has directed provincial government to provide full medical assistance to the injured with burns," a statement from his office said. "The Prime Minister has expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls."

Amid criticism that the government has failed to respond adequately to the tragedy, the prime minister's daughter tweeted that Sharif would cut short his trip to London and return to Pakistan immediately. He was in London for his grandson's graduation ceremony, Maryam Nawaz Sharif tweeted.

PM had come to London to attend his grandson's (my son, brought up by him) graduation ceremony, but owing to the tragic incidents in Pak 1/2 — Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) June 25, 2017

He will not be attending the ceremony & is returning to Pak immediately. Says his foremost duty is towards the country & the people. 2/2 — Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) June 25, 2017

Chief Minister of Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said an inquiry will be held into the incident.

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, tweeted that the blaze was "a national tragedy of epic proportions."

The politician and former cricketer said he had asked local leadership to assess what assistance could be provided to the injured and victims' families.

Have asked ldrship present in area to immed assess what assistance can be provided to the injured and to families of victims. https://t.co/E1aTtoocke — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 25, 2017

The US Embassy in Islamabad tweeted its condolences

"We are so saddened to hear of the terrible oil tanker accident in #Bahawalpur," it said. "Our deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims." </s> KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 153 were killed Sunday when they rushed to collect leaking fuel from a crashed tanker in Bahawalpur, eastern Pakistan, before it suddenly exploded.

The truck veered off the road when the driver lost control, police official Mohammad Akhtar told CNN. As the tanker sat on the side of the road, fuel began leaking out in large pools.

It's not known what cause the wreck to ignite, but some people gathering at the scene began smoking cigarettes and using their cell phones to inform friends and relatives of the crash.

"Sparking from cell phones could ignite fire," Haroon-ur-Rasheed, a former police official who now handles emergency and rescue operations in Bahawalpur, told the government-run Associated Press of Pakistan.

He added the tanker also was fitted with batteries that could have sparked the blaze.

Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital Dr. Javed Iqbal told CNN the death toll had risen to 153 people as of Monday afternoon.

The explosion happened Sunday morning as hundreds of people from nearby villages, as well as workers at a mango garden -- many of them driving cars or motorcycles -- rushed to collect the fuel in pots, according to APP.

The blast engulfed everything around the truck, including women and children, APP reported. Many victims died immediately, while others succumbed to their injuries at hospitals.

Nishtar Hospital, where many of the wounded were taken, said more than 100 people were injured in the blast. Bahawal Victoria Hospital said it was treating 40 victims, all of whom had suffered burns on at least 70% of their bodies.

A state of emergency was declared in Bahawalpur, Punjab provincial government spokesman Salman Sufi said.

Officers with the National Highways and Motorway Police urged villagers to stay away from the vehicle, but to no avail, police sources told APP.

The tanker was carrying 25,000 liters (6,600 gallons) of fuel from Karachi to Lahore, roughly 440 kilometers (273 miles) northeast of Bawalpahur.

Images from the scene showed the truck overturned with a gaping hole atop the tanker where the blast had ripped it open like a soda can.

It was surrounded by the husks of burned-out motorbikes and automobiles, their windows and tires melted away from the heat.

According to APP, the explosion destroyed 75 motorbikes and six automobiles. Bodies were pulled from cars and a motorcycle rickshaw, APP said.

Mohammad Shabbir, a villager, told CNN affiliate Geo TV that the vehicle's driver had warned people to stay away from the truck but his warnings were not heeded.

"What is the use of this petrol? What will you do with it now?" he asked, gesturing towards a bucket in his hand.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of Pakistan's military, said army helicopters transported 51 people 60 miles (97 kilometers) north to Combined Military Hospital Multan. They're all in critical confiction, ISPR said.

It added that the road had been reopened and that traffic had started to flow again.

Shortly after the accident, Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif "expressed deep grief over the heavy loss of life."

"The Prime Minister has directed provincial government to provide full medical assistance to the injured with burns," a statement from his office said. "The Prime Minister has expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls."

Amid criticism that the government has failed to respond adequately to the tragedy, the prime minister's daughter tweeted that Sharif would cut short his trip to London and return to Pakistan immediately. He was in London for his grandson's graduation ceremony, Maryam Nawaz Sharif tweeted.

Chief Minister of Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said an inquiry will be held into the incident.

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, tweeted that the blaze was "a national tragedy of epic proportions."

The politician and former cricketer said he had asked local leadership to assess what assistance could be provided to the injured and victims' families.

The US Embassy in Islamabad tweeted its condolences.

"We are so saddened to hear of the terrible oil tanker accident in #Bahawalpur," it said. "Our deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims."
At least 14 people are killed and 59 burned when a gas cylinder explosion aboard an oil tanker causes a major fire at the ship-breaking yard in Gadani in Pakistan's Balochistan Province. Dozens other workers remain missing as many injured are transferred to hospitals in nearby Karachi.