A fuel tanker exploded on Saturday at the Islam Qala crossing in Afghanistan’s western Herat province on the Iranian border, injuring at least 60 people and causing a massive fire that consumed more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel, The Guardian reports.
Two explosions at the border crossing were powerful enough to be spotted from space by Nasa satellites. One blast erupted around 1.10 pm Afghan time (8.40 am GMT), the next around a half-hour later at 1.42 pm local (9.12 am GMT).
It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency quoted truck drivers as saying more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel had burned. Western officials told Reuters at least 60 people had been injured. Afghan officials gave a lower casualty toll but said that number could rise.
