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| Many dead in South Sudan oil tanker blast | Many dead in South Sudan oil tanker blast |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| At least 85 people have been killed after an oil tanker exploded in South Sudan, a presidential spokesman said. | At least 85 people have been killed after an oil tanker exploded in South Sudan, a presidential spokesman said. |
| The tanker had veered off the road in Maridi, Western Equatoria state, and local residents were siphoning off the fuel when the vehicle exploded, Ateny Wek Ateny said. | The tanker had veered off the road in Maridi, Western Equatoria state, and local residents were siphoning off the fuel when the vehicle exploded, Ateny Wek Ateny said. |
| Some reports are putting the death toll at over 100. At least 50 people are reported to have been injured. | Some reports are putting the death toll at over 100. At least 50 people are reported to have been injured. |
| The local hospitals are said to have been overwhelmed. | The local hospitals are said to have been overwhelmed. |
| The tanker was travelling from the capital Juba to Maridi, some 250km (155 miles) away, when it came off the road. | |
| Residents of nearby communities did what many people do after similar crashes in Africa, they rushed to scoop up the leaking fuel before it seeped away. | |
| The state's minister for information Charles Kisagna told the Reuters news agency he feared for the injured. | |
| "We don't have medical equipment and these people may not survive because we do not have the facilities to treat the highly burnt people," he said. | |
| South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, after a peace deal with Sudan that ended Africa's longest-running civil war. | |
| But the country is one of the poorest in Africa, and more than 2.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of a conflict between government troops and rebel factions. | |
| A tentative internationally-mediated peace agreement was signed in August but the ceasefire has already been violated. |