State Television - At Least 23 Killed In Riyadh Fuel Truck Blast Reuters

By Angus McDowall

RIYADH Thu Nov 1, 2012 1:36pm EDT

RIYADH (Reuters) - At least 23 people have been mortally wounded when a resource truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi money Riyadh on Thursday, initiating a great explosion this brought down a great commercial creating and set fire for you to in close proximity vehicles.

State-owned Ekhbariya tv set announcement station documented about how the demise toll had risen in order to twenty three and urgent situation trades-people were even now searching the collapsed constructing for further persons as well as survivors. Health ministry spokesman Saad al-Qahtani said 135 people ended up injured, primarily guys as well as including some foreigners.

Although the incident procured position nearby the headquarters of the Saudi Arabian National Guard and also the Prince Nayef Arab University regarding Security Studies, officers engaging on state television system reported them was an accident.

Neither the guards' intricate nor the safety collage seemed for being damaged inside blast, which flattened a showroom regarding tractors, bulldozers along with other alternative vehicles as well as harmful a new hectic flyover.

U.S. ally Saudi Arabia can be witnessed like a prime concentrate on with the al Qaeda branch situated in nearby Yemen even so the continue prosperous infiltration included in the subdued Islamic kingdom what food was in 2006. Riyadh features broke affordable on Islamist militants within the beyond decade, detaining 1000s of suspects.

The civil protection office said a petrol tanker had make that Khureis Road flyover in asian Riyadh, producing a gas leak and a good huge increase while in the Zahid Tractor corporate entity's showroom and warehouse, as outlined by that state information bureau SPA.

"The truck airport taxi driver had been shocked by the path mishap on their route, triggering it to freeze in to one of several pillars of the bridge," spokesman Captain Mohamed Hubail Hammadi said.

DRIVER BLAMED

The municipal safeguard chief, Saed al-Tweijri, explained the shoot were being added underneath control. He blamed the tanker driver regarding that accident.

The warehouse, numerous storeys high, seemed to be leveled with the blast, that furthermore prompted critical destruction of nearby buildings. Rubble, twisted shiny and broken glass littered a broad stretch out belonging to the surrounding area.

"I had been within the constructing when the blast came. Then boom, the constructing collapsed. Furniture, chair and also units blasted in the bedroom I ended up being in," reported survivor Kushnoo Akhtar, a 55-year-old Pakistani worker, who seem to ended up being insured with soil plus bleeding through a number of haircuts with his / her confront along with hands.

"My frankly remains within beneath the rubble. There are many individuals with there," they said.

The blast with all over 7:20 a.m. regional period happened on one of many capital's busiest driveways but simply because Saudi Arabia holds observing the Eid al-Adha holiday, traffic had been brighter than normal.

An hour following your explosion, fires still raged with cars and trucks and trucks nearby plus a column connected with black smoking billowed with the area.

By Thursday nighttime state television system was however displaying a huge unexpected emergency operations in the site while workers identified with the flattened setting up with the aid associated with searching machinery.

Dozens involving burnt-out vehicles ornamented the actual scene in the blast, including a smallish bus as well as other automobiles along with the flyover, which was kept buckled by this explosion.

Television video footage in addition to images submitted about web 2 . 0 exhibited a shape resting close to tobacco vehicles and from least a pair of charred bodies parked in the car. Another blackened corpse seemed to be obvious inside remains of a truck.

More as compared with a hundred disaster staff were combing with the wreckage on your flyover and also searching for sufferers inside the rubble in the building, 1 of 2 Riyadh sites detailed over the internet regarding Zahid Tractor, a wholesale drop shipper connected with heavy machinery.

(Reporting by way of Angus McDowall around Riyadh plus Mirna Sleiman in Dubai, Editing by Andrew Torchia plus Michael Roddy)