Oil tanker blast kills 85 in South Sudan

At least 85 people were killed in South Sudan when a crowd tried to gather fuel from an oil tanker that had veered off the road on its way to a region west of the capital Juba, a presidential spokesman said.

The tanker exploded with dozens of people around it after the truck travelled to South Sudan’s Western Equatoria region.

“Eight-five people are confirmed dead by the local authorities,” said presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny, adding that about 50 people were seriously injured.

Such incidents have happened before in a region where fuel tankers often have to travel long distances along potholed roads and pass through poor communities.

There are almost no tarmac roads in South Sudan, one of Africa’s poorest nations, which has been mired in conflict since December 2013.