Death toll from gasoline tanker fire climbs to almost 200 in Pakistan

The incident took place on June 25 when an oil tanker crashed on a road near city of Bahawalpur and almost 200 people, many of whom had rushed to collect leaking fuel, were killed when it exploded.

The ghastly incident has cast a pall of gloom across the country as victims are buried and treated.

The tanker was carrying 40,000 litres of fuel overturned after trying to make a sharp turn while travelling from Karachi to Lahore on the main highway.

The disaster occurred when hundreds of residents of a nearby village gathered at the site of an overturned oil tanker to collect the leaking fuel. It's believed that a spark from the many cars and motorcycles that raced to the scene ignited the fuel.

Hundreds of people were also injured as a result of the incident.

Reports say the death toll could rise further as dozens injured are still in critical conditions and overburdened hospitals struggle to treat the scores of severely burned victims.

Meanwhile, a mass funeral was held for 125 unidentified victims of the incident on Tuesday. The bodies were buried in numbered graves by the district administration.

The local administration said that DNA samples of the victims have been taken and will be matched by those of their relatives to ascertain the identities of numbered graves.

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