19 killed in Afghanistan oil tanker blast

The death toll from an oil tanker blast in a tunnel in Afghanistan's eastern Parwan province reached 19, Deputy to Provincial Health Directorate Abdullah Afghanmal said Sunday, reported Xinhua.

Afghanmal told media that 19 dead bodies and 32 injured people from the blast had been taken to hospitals in the provincial capital Charikar and nearby health centers.

Earlier, Spokesman for the Public Work Ministry Mawlawi Hamidullah Misbah counted 12 dead and 37 injured from the blast.

Spokesman for Parwan provincial administration Hekmatullah Shamim said that the oil tanker caught fire inside Salang Tunnel Saturday night, killing and injuring over two dozen people.

The official also noted that the fire had been extinguished and the tunnel had also been reopened for traffic. However, locals at the site believed that the number of casualties could be higher than reported.

Salang Tunnel, 3,400 meters above sea level connecting Afghanistan's capital Kabul to the northern eight provinces, is an essential passway and lifeline in Afghanistan.