Fuel truck crash in Riyadh sparks explosion that destroys building

At least 10 people have been killed after a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, triggering an explosion that caused the collapse of an industrial building, witness and television reports say.

Al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera television stations reported that at least a further 50 people were injured. They said 10 were dead and a witness at the scene told Reuters he had seen that many bodies.

The building, several storeys high, was almost levelled by the blast, with only one corner left standing. Several adjacent buildings were damaged and nearby vehicles, including a minibus on the flyover, were set on fire, witnesses said.

Television footage of the disaster and pictures posted on social media showed a body lying by burnt-out vehicles, and at least two charred bodies seated in a car.

A civil defence official at the scene, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a petrol tanker had crashed into a concrete flyover. He and other officials were unable to give further details of the incident.

"I was inside the building when the blast came. Then boom, the building collapsed. Furniture, chairs and cabinets blasted into the room I was in," said Kushnoo Akhtara, a 55-year-old Pakistani worker, who was covered in dirt and bleeding from multiple cuts over his body.

"My brother is still inside under the rubble. There are lots of people in there."

More than 100 emergency personnel were combing the wreckage on the flyover and searching for victims in the rubble of the building, which housed Zahid Tractor, a distributor of heavy machinery.

There was no immediate suspicion of terrorist links based on witness accounts, which suggested the fuel tanker exploded after striking part of a highway underpass.

Officials said rescue crews had not finished the search and the death toll was still not final.

All the officials and witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Thursday 1 November 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/01/fuel-truck-riyadh-explosion-building