12 killed as oil tanker catches hearth in Afghanistan's Salang cross | World News

An oil tanker overturned and caught hearth in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang cross, killing 12 folks and injuring dozens, officers mentioned on Sunday.

The incident occurred late on Saturday within the province of Parwan, north of Kabul, leaving travellers on either side of the mountainous cross stranded.

Not less than 12 folks had been killed and 37 others had been injured within the incident, mentioned Hamidullah Misbah, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works, including the toll was anticipated to rise.

"An oil tanker overturned and caught hearth within the Salang tunnel, which then set a number of different automobiles on hearth," Misbah instructed AFP.

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Abdullah Afghan Mal, a senior well being official in Parwan, mentioned lots of the lifeless included ladies and kids who had been badly burned.

"Among the many lifeless it was very onerous to determine who was a male and who was a feminine," he mentioned.

The cross was now closed for site visitors as rescue groups in helicopters deployed on the website, officers mentioned.

The Salang cross, one of many highest mountain highways on the planet at round 3,650 metres (12,000 toes) was constructed by Soviet-era specialists within the 50s and features a 2.6-kilometre tunnel.

The cross runs via the Hindu Kush mountain vary that connects capital Kabul to the north.

Hailed as an engineering feat upon completion, the Salang cross is commonly shut for days due to accidents, heavy snowfalls and avalanches throughout the winter.

In 2010, avalanches killed greater than 150 folks within the Salang cross.