Fuel pipe explosion kills at least 15 in Iraq

At least 15 people were killed in a blast while people were collecting petrol from pools formed around a breach in a disused fuel pipeline.

At least 15 people were killed in an explosion in central Iraq late on Monday while people were collecting petrol from pools formed around a breach in a disused fuel pipeline, witnesses said on Tuesday.

HT Image

An agency reporter at the rural site near Diwaniya, 180 km south of Baghdad, counted 15 charred bodies.

A hospital official said there were also a further four bodies in Diwaniya's morgue. A police source said more than 50 were killed in total, although that figure could not be confirmed.