(dpa) At least 12 people were killed and 37 others injured in a tanker truck explosion in a tunnel in Afghanistan. The spokesman for the Ministry of Construction, Hamidullah Musbah, said on Sunday that the number of victims would continue to rise. The incident happened on Saturday evening in the Salang tunnel around 90 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. The reason was “technical problems”. The fire caused by the explosion spread to other vehicles.
“The bodies we saw were completely burned. It was not clear whether they were children, men or women,” an eyewitness told local broadcaster Tolonews. According to authorities, the fire was under control several hours after the incident. The tunnel, which is around 2.7 kilometers long and connects the provinces of Baghland and Parwan, initially remained closed. There was no official information on Sunday about the financial damage.