Ten killed in tanker explosion in western Iran

At least 10 people were killed and six others injured after an oil tanker exploded following a road accident in western Iran on Saturday (September 5), Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

The tanker crashed on the Hamedan-Sanandaj highway before catching fire and exploding, according to local officials.

The governor of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, told Reuters that a technical fault in the vehicle’s braking system caused the driver to lose control, leading to the crash.

The resulting fire was brought under control quickly, officials said. Authorities had yet to release details about the identities of those killed.

Iran has one of the world’s highest road accident rates, with poor road infrastructure, ageing vehicles and weak enforcement of traffic regulations frequently cited as contributing factors.

In 2018, at least 13 people were killed near Sanandaj when an oil tanker crashed into a passenger bus that was waiting to pick up passengers.

UNICEF has said Iran’s road accident rate is about 20 times the global average, citing weak infrastructure and lax enforcement of traffic laws. A 2017 report by the Financial Tribune said more than 20,000 people were killed and around 800,000 injured in road accidents in Iran each year.