Death toll in Peru tanker explosion rises to 13: ministry

09:14 - 09 August 2024

A fireman walks past the tanker truck that exploded in a Lima neighborhood on January 23, 2020, killing several people and igniting houses and cars

The death toll in the explosion of a gas tanker in Lima has risen to 13 after the overnight deaths of five people hospitalized with severe burns, Peru's Health Ministry said Saturday.

The dead included several young children and a 40-year-old man from Venezuela, the ministry said.

Nearly 50 people were injured, many seriously, when a tanker truck carrying 10,000 liters of liquefied gas exploded early Thursday, igniting a major fire that destroyed several houses and vehicles in the capital's Villa El Salvador district.

Investigators believe the explosion was caused when a fuel hose became detached as the tanker truck passed over a speed bump as it approached an intersection.

The driver, initially reported to have died in the crash, in fact survived.

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