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Dozens killed in Mozambique fuel truck blast Mozambique: Scores killed in fuel truck blast
(about 2 hours later)
More than 70 people have been killed in a fuel truck explosion in Mozambique, government officials say. At least 73 people have been killed in a fuel truck explosion in Mozambique, officials say.
Some reports suggest the death toll may be as high as 73, and 110 people have suffered burns. A government statement said people had been trying to take petrol from the truck when it exploded in the village of Caphiridzange in Tete province, near the border with Malawi.
It happened in Tete province near the border with Malawi, where the truck was carrying petrol from the coast. More than 100 others were injured, some of them critically, it said.
A government statement said that people were trying to siphon fuel from an overturned truck when heat caused it to explode. One report said that the truck had crashed and people had been trying to siphon off fuel.
It said government officials would be sent to the region to investigate the incident, and many of the injured had gone to hospital. Announcing an investigation, information ministry director Joao Manasses said it was also possible that the vehicle had been ambushed by residents.
Government ministers are due to arrive in the area on Friday to oversee the rescue work and the inquiry.
The tanker had been carrying fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira.
Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries, with more than half the 24 million population living below the poverty line.
It gained independence from Portugal in 1975 but is still suffering from the effects of a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992.