NEWS DESK
KABUL: At least 19 persons were killed, and 32 others sustained burn injuries when an oil tanker exploded in a tunnel north of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, here on Sunday.
The Salang Tunnel, over 80 miles north of Kabul, was initially built in the 1960s to help the Soviet invasion. It is a key link between Afghanistan’s south and north.
Said Himatullah Shamim, a spokesman for Parwan province, said the tunnel blast killed at least 19 people, including children and women. He feared that the number of casualties could rise as several survivors remain trapped under rubble, Arab News reported on Sunday.
Immediately, it was not clear what caused the explosion.
Women and children among blast victims
According to local official Dr. Abdullah Afghan, Parwan’s health department has so far received 24 injured and 14 dead. He said there are two children and five women among the dead, adding that the rest are men who are seriously burnt and cannot be identified.
The Public Works Ministry’s spokesman, Molvi Hamidullah Misbah, said that the fire was extinguished and that rescue teams were still working to clear the tunnel.
