KABUL (SW) – Officials of the Ministry of Public Health have confirmed that the death toll from the fire in the Salang tunnel has increased to 31 dead and 37 injured.
Sharaf Zaman, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, said in a message to the media today that the local health teams of the Ministry have so far transferred 31 dead and 37 injured people to health centers.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health added that this is not the final statistic and they will provide the final statistics to the media after collecting all the information.
A day earlier, Azizullah Omar, the commander of Parwan security, told Salam Watandar that at around 8:30 on Saturday night, an oil tanker that was moving from Baghlan to Kabul, at a distance of 50 meters inside the Salang tunnel caught fire.
Meanwhile, Azizullah Omar said that parts of the roof of the Salang tunnel collapsed as a result of the oil tanker explosion. He added that the road from south to north and from north to south is closed to all cars and hundreds of passenger and cargo cars were waiting for the opening of the tunnel on both sides.
On the other hand, the Parwan security commander added that the driver of a truck that caused the fire is under the supervision of the Parwan security forces and his assistant/cleaner is still in the custody of the Baghlan security forces.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident told Salam Watandar that there is a possibility that two trucks full of coal caught fire.
ENDS
