ISLAMABAD, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from an oil tanker fire that happened in Pakistan a week ago has risen to 206 after more people succumbed to burn injures as of Monday morning, said hospital sources.
Aamir Bukhari, a spokesman of Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur, a district in Punjab province, where the incident happened, told Xinhua that a total of 125 charred bodies and 144 injured people were received by different hospitals after the oil tanker fire.
Out of all the injured, 81 have died later at hospitals while 63 remain under treatment, said Bukhari, adding that the death toll could further climb as some of the injured are still in critical condition.
The deadly oil tanker fire occurred at about 6:30 a.m. local time on June 25 when an oil tanker fully loaded with an estimated 50,000 liters of petrol skidded off the road on a highway in Ahmad Pur Sharqia, a small town about 400 km southwest of Lahore, capital city of Punjab province.
The fire broke out after many people from nearby villages rushed to the site to collect the oil spilled out from the capsized oil tanker.
The cause of the fire is not officially announced yet, but a preliminary investigation report said the fire could have been triggered by someone smoking on the spot.
"All the people who were collecting oil died on the spot while the injured brought to hospitals were those who were passers-by or were standing at a distance and got affected due to high intensity of fire explosion," said Bukhari.
The fire also engulfed 80 motorbikes and six vehicles, said local officials.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident and the government of Punjab province has announced a compensation package of 2 million rupees (19,100 U.S. dollars) for each of the killed and 1 million rupees ( 9,550 U.S. dollars) for each of the injured.
