Several dead in Riyadh truck explosion

At least 22 dead and 111 injured from explosion when truck carrying flammable liquids crashed in the Saudi capital.

At least 22 people were killed and another 111 injured when a truck carrying flammable liquids crashed in Riyadh causing a large explosion, Saudi state television said.

The truck exploded after it crashed into a concrete flyover in the Saudi capital on Thursday, said a civil defence official speaking to al-Akhbariya television.

An industrial building, several storeys high, was almost entirely destroyed by the blast while several nearby buildings were damaged, witness said.

"I was inside the building when the blast came. Then boom, the building collapsed. Furniture, chairs and cabinets blasted
into the room I was in," said survivor Kushnoo Akhtara, a 55-year-old Pakistani worker, who was covered in dirt and
bleeding from multiple cuts over his body.

"My brother is still inside under the rubble. There are lots of people in there."

Abdullah al-Saery, a witness who arrived on the scene soon after the explosion, said the desruction was “everywhere”, buildings, cars and a bridge were all destroyed..

"The number of those who lost their lives is definitely going to increase due to the huge explosion and the damage caused to buildings in the area," al-Saery told Al Jazeera.

The security official had said earlier that a traffic accident had occurred at a junction on Khurays Road, one of the city's main arteries.


Source:
Al Jazeera And Agencies