13 vehicles gutted in fire caused by blast

Four tankers carrying fuel for NATO also burnt.

PESHAWAR: At least 13 vehicles, including four tankers carrying fuel for Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan, were gutted in a blaze following a blast on Tuesday afternoon, police and rescue workers said.

No causalities were reported.

The area attacked is to the west of Peshawar and lies on the border of the Khyber Agency, from where most Nato supplies cross into Afghanistan via the historic Khyber Pass.

An official of the Hayatabad Police Station told The Express Tribune that the fire spread near Peerano Market in the city’s Karkhano Market, after a magnet bomb attached to an oil tanker went off at around 2:20 pm.

The official said at least 13 vehicles, including four oil tankers, were gutted in the blaze in the blast’s aftermath. He said the fire spread rapidly as the blast caused a traffic jam and vehicles could not be removed.

Rescue 1122 sources said that four oil tankers, two trucks, a trolley, a tractor, a Suzuki, a pickup, a carry, a rickshaw and a car were completely burnt.

Fire tenders of Rescue 1122, Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) and City Fire Brigade took almost four hours to extinguish the fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2011.