Roaring Tanker Fire Kills 7 in Afghan Capital

Residents and drivers watch burning oil tankers and trucks in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Residents and drivers watch burning oil tankers and trucks in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
TT
20

Roaring Tanker Fire Kills 7 in Afghan Capital

Residents and drivers watch burning oil tankers and trucks in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Residents and drivers watch burning oil tankers and trucks in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

A searing blaze that roared through dozens of gasoline tanker trucks on the northern edge of the Afghan capital of Kabul killed seven people and injured 14 others, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

Investigators were combing through the tankers that lay in smoldering ruins and a gas station caught in the flames that lit up the area late Saturday, said ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.

There was no immediate indication of whether it was an accident or sabotage.

Arian said the fire began when a spark set a fuel tanker ablaze. Nearby tankers were quickly engulfed, sending giant flames and plumes of smoke into the night sky. The fire in the northern edge of the city engulfed several homes and a nearby gas station. Several structures were destroyed and electricity to some parts of Kabul was knocked out.

Truck drivers Sunday blocked the road leading to the area demanding the government provide compensation.

The injured were being treated mostly for burns in local hospitals.



Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
TT
20

Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.