Blasts at Afghan gas terminal kill 11 children

HERAT: A series of large explosions at a gas terminal on the edge of the western Afghan city of Herat late on Monday killed 11 children and an adult living in a camp for people displaced by war. The explosions were felt across Afghanistan’s third largest city and images showed the subsequent fire reaching high into the night sky. As well as 11 fatalities, at least 18 people were injured, said Mohammad Rafiq Shirzai a spokesman for the regional hospital in Herat. All were from the camp near the gas terminal. It was not immediately clear whether the explosions late Monday on the edge of the relatively peaceful western city of Herat were an accident or the result of an attack. Last year, militants attacked India’s consulate in the city. The explosions triggered a plume of flames into the night sky, which rapidly spread to a nearby settlement of mud houses for internally displaced people where most of the deaths occurred. Ihasanullah Hayat, spokesman for the governor of Herat, confirmed the toll and said the majority of those killed were children. A resident of the hillside settlement, who lost a 9-year-old daughter in the fire, said many of the victims were trying to flee the towering flames. “The explosions were powerful and sparked a huge fire,” said the man, who had sought refuge in Herat after fleeing the neighboring restive province of Badghis. “After the first explosion everyone started to flee the area and got caught up in the flames,” he added, reluctant to give his name. Mourners gathered at the settlement for funeral prayers on Tuesday morning, with turbaned pall bearers seen carrying bodies for burial on makeshift stretchers. Domestic gas cylinder explosions are an almost daily occurrence around the country, where safety standards are poor and fatal accidents not uncommon. Herat province, a key business hub located in western Afghanistan near the border with Iran, is a relatively peaceful province in a country convulsed by an ascendant 14-year Taliban insurgency. -arabnews