ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani authorities on Friday held Shell Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell in the country, responsible for a recent oil tanker fire that has killed over 200 people and wounded dozens others.
Imran Ghaznavi, spokesman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (OGRA), told Xinhua that OGRA has ordered Shell Pakistan to pay 1 million rupees (about 9,400 U.S. dollars) and half a million rupees (about 4,700 U.S. dollars) for each of the killed and wounded respectively.
Meanwhile, a fine of 10 million rupees (about 94,000 U.S. dollars) has been imposed on the company for its violation of relevant rules and laws, said the spokesman.
In a report released on Friday, OGRA said that non-professional driving/vehicle being lesser than required specs was the basic cause of the incident.
An oil tanker must has 5-6 axles to transport about 50,000 liters of oil, but the tanker used by the company had only four axles while the fitness certificate possessed by the company for the oil tanker was also fake, said the report.
The report said that "Shell Pakistan Limited has failed to fulfill its legal responsibility by ignoring rules and laws in field for transporting the petroleum products through tank lorries."
On June 25, an oil tanker of Shell Pakistan, which was fully loaded with an estimated 50,000 liters of petrol, skidded off the road on a highway in Bahawalpur district of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. A fire broke out after many people from nearby villages rushed to the site to collect the oil spilled out from the capsized oil tanker.
Initial investigation suggested that the fire could have been triggered when someone on the spot lit a cigarette.
Aamir Bukhari, a spokesman of Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur, confirmed that as of Friday a total of 217 people have died because of the fire and 52 others injured in the fire are still under medical treatment.
The government of Punjab province has earlier announced a compensation package for the fire victims, under which each of the killed and wounded will get paid 2 million rupees (18,800 U.S. dollars) and 1 million rupees (about 9,400 U.S. dollars) respectively.
