At least 15 persons including 10 children were killed and more than 25 injured when a tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) collided with a car and the gas leakage fuelled an inferno engulfing the vehicle and nearby buildings in Mananwala area near Nankana Sahib on Wednesday morning.
According to polices sources, the LPG tanker was going to Sheikhupura when it collided with the car coming from opposite site. A massive fire erupted after a powerful explosion. Two rickshaws carrying schoolchildren also caught fire, scorching at least 10 children to death on the spot and five others.
Shops in the surrounding area were also gutted.
According to eyewitnesses, the accident occurred when the taker driver lost control over the vehicle while overtaking another vehicle near a u-turn.
The rescue team shifted the bodies and the injured to District Headquarters Hospital Sheikhupura and district headquarters Nankana Sahib where five injured were stated to be in critical condition. Twelve seriously injured people were sent to hospitals in Faisalabad and Lahore.
Some of those died in the incident were identified as Waleed, Hamza Hammad, Shazia Farooq, Shagufta and Amjad Ali.
Rescue teams also recovered the bodies from the vehicles. Firefighters were also called to extinguish the huge fire.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the accident and ordered an investigation into it. He also directed the authorities concerned to provide every possible medical treatment to the injured.