Truck explosion kills 100 in Iran

A GASOLINE truck exploded after smashing into a bus in southeast Iran late on Thursday, killing 90 people and injuring more than 100 yesterday.

"The disaster is so grave we cannot identify faces and cannot differentiate between corpses," said Haidar Ali Nourai, governor of the southeastern city of Zahedan.

He said the accident happened when the truck lost control and plowed into a bus waiting at Nosratabad police checkpoint. The fireball then enveloped five other buses.

Television showed bodies charred beyond recognition. A gold watch was seen stuck to an arm scorched to the bone.

Red Crescent spokesman Mehran Nourbakhsh said 90 people had died in the blast and 114 had been injured. The aid group has sent 40 workers to the scene.

Zahedan parliamentarian Hossein Ali Shahriari said the checkpoint was badly positioned on a sharp bend.

"Inspections at this checkpoint use stone age methods," he said. "We always see lots of buses and cars caught in queues at this road block."

Iran has one of the highest road accident rates in the world, averaging five deaths every two hours.

Nosratabad lies on the road from Zahedan to Bam, which was hit by an earthquake last year that killed more than 20,000 people.

The road is dotted with checkpoints because it is the main route for drugs smugglers.