Lebanon fuel truck explosion kills at least 20

At least 20 people were killed and 79 others wounded when a fuel truck exploded in Lebanon’s northern region of Akkar, the Red Cross said on Sunday.

 

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.

 

The tragedy has heaped new misery on a country already struck by an economic crisis and severe fuel shortages that have crippled hospitals and caused power cuts lasting 22 hours a day.

 

Videos from the blast circulating on social media showed a large fire consuming metal scraps.

 

“Look at how the people are burning,” a man can be heard saying in one video shared by a local news outlet. AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

 

“Our teams have transported 20 dead bodies … from the fuel tanker explosion in Akkar to hospitals in the area,” the Lebanese Red Cross said on Twitter.

 

It added that 79 other people were injured.

 

Yassine Metlej, an employee at an Akkar hospital, said that the facility had received at least seven corpses and dozens of burn victims.

 

Source: Agencies