Lebanon : At least 20 people were killed and 79 others injured while a fuel tank exploded in Lebanon’s northern region of Akkar.
Red cross said “Our teams have transported 20 dead bodies from the fuel tanker explosion in Akkar to hospitals in the area,
Military and security sources said that the Lebanese army had seized a hidden fuel storage tank in the town of Tleil and was in the midst of handing out gasoline to residents when the explosion took place,
About 200 people were nearby at the time of the explosion, eyewitnesses said. There were differing accounts as to the cause of the explosion.
Security sources said , “There was a rush of people, and arguments between some of them led to gunfire which hit the tank of gasoline and so it exploded,”
The local Al-Jadeed TV channel reported from eyewitnesses that an individual who ignited a lighter was the cause.
Abdelrahman, whose face and body was covered in gauze as he laid in Tripoli’s al-Salam hospital, was one of those in line to get some precious gasoline.