Overturned oil tanker explodes in Pakistan, killing 148 - there are stupid humans everywhere

[malaise]

Who sees fuel and lights a cigarette?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/25/overturned-oil-tanker-explodes-in-pakistan-killing-more-than-100
<snip>
An overturned oil tanker burst into flames in Pakistan on Sunday, killing 148 people who had rushed to the scene of the highway accident to gather leaking fuel, an official said.

Local news channels showed black smoke billowing skyward and horrific images of scores of burned bodies, as well as rescue officials speeding the injured to hospital and army helicopters ferrying the wounded.

The death toll could rise further as another 50 people are still in critical condition, said Dr Mohammad Baqar, a senior rescue official in the area. There were dozens of other injuries of varying degree, he said.

The tanker flipped over on the national highway about 100km (60 miles) southwest of Multan. The tanker was driving from the southern port city of Karachi to Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital, when the driver lost control and crashed.

A loudspeaker on top of a local mosque alerted villagers to the leaking fuel, and scores raced to the site with jerry cans, said Rana Mohammad Salim, deputy commissioner of Bahawalpur. Highway police moved quickly to redirect traffic but couldn’t stop the scores of villagers who raced to collect the fuel, spokesman Imran Shah told a local TV channel.

“According to the initial reports, somebody tried to light a cigarette, and when the spilt fuel caught fire, leading to the tanker’s explosion,” said Jam Sajjad Hussain, spokesman for the rescue services.

[pintobean]

1. Yeah, everywhere.

[Lee-Lee]

2. Poverty leads to desperation

The one with the cigarette was stupid. The rest were just desperate. 5 gallons of fuel to them is a huge thing. The

[malaise]

7. I said nothing about the poor who saw a chance for some fuel

Lots of cooking for Eid.

[jberryhill]

3. It is unlikely a witness to the ignition survived

So let me see... a spilled fuel explosion kills 148 people, but the person who saw it start from a lit cigarette lived to tell the tale.

[PCIntern]

4. I can see the movie as directed

By various action-oriented directors. John Woo would have white doves flying away as the conflagration began, JJ Abrams would have a big lens flare, etc.

[malaise]

9. You're good

[uncle ray]

5. it's absolutely likely .

potential smoker and witness both may have been a "safe" distance from the spill. if fuel vapor carried by a breeze was ignited some distance from the actual spill site, several seconds could elapse from initial ignition to fireball of spilled fuel, then finally the actual explosion of the tank, which could occur minutes after the fireball.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Probably many survived.

The ones who walked into puddles of fuel to fill their containers with free fuel oil, those individuals likely did not survive.

The ones who were outside the spillage, guarding their family's empty and full containers, they likely survived.

The ones who were standing around smoking, they might have survived, unless they too were standing in puddles of spilled fuel. Geniuses.

[malaise]

8. Very good point

but it's not impossible