4 die on burning tanker
2005-03-10 16:52
Karachi - A raging fire broke out on a tanker belonging to the Pakistan navy at a dock in this southern port city on Thursday, killing four and injuring at least 90 people - most of them sailors, officials said.
A doctor at PNS Shifa Naval Hospital told The Associated Press that 90 injured had been brought to the facility, many in critical condition. A naval official said four men had died.
Earlier, a doctor said he feared many other sailors could still be trapped on the ship, and that hospital officials had been put on emergency call to deal with the situation.
Witnesses saw some of the injured being rushed to the hospital, some covered in red blankets, their faces burned from the fire.
The Pakistan Navy confirmed the fire, which it said broke out during routine exercises on the ship, but had no comment on the number of injuries.
It said the cause of the fire was not known.
"We are handling an emergency. We don't have details about what caused the fire or how many people were injured," said Captain Amir Naeem Beg, a spokesperson for the navy at its headquarters in Islamabad.
Helicopters swarmed in the air over the enormous tanker, which was sitting on a dock in the Arabian Sea.
The fire broke out about a week after Pakistan and neighbouring Iran held joint naval exercises in the Arabian sea.
- AP