MULTAN: The death toll from a gas tanker truck explosion that happend last week in central Pakistan has jumped to 18, police and hospital officials said on Tuesday.
Police initially said five people were killed and about two dozen others were injured when a truck carrying liquified petroleum gas caught fire near an industrial area in Multan, a city in the country’s most populous Punjab province.
Mohammad Wasim, a doctor at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital, said another 13 people have died in the week since the Jan. 27 blast. He added that another seven people who were injured in the blast were still in critical condition.
Mohammad Bashir, a senior police official, said the blast also damaged nearby shops and homes, and the deaths were caused by the fire and the collapse of several roofs.
He said an initial police investigation showed that the gas tanker truck had exploded while some people were transferring LPG from the truck to cylinders after bribing the driver, who has been arrested.
Death toll from last week’s gas tanker explosion in Pakistan rises to 18
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Death toll from last week’s gas tanker explosion in Pakistan rises to 18
- Truck carrying liquified petroleum gas had caught fire near an industrial area in Multan
- Blast damaged nearby structures, deaths caused by ensuing fire and collapse of several roofs
No third meeting with Pakistan army chief on Trump’s calendar – White House official
- Reuters reported that Donald Trump was expected to hold a third meeting with Asim Munir in six months over a proposed Gaza force
- Pakistan’s top military commander has met Trump twice this year, including a White House luncheon without Pakistani civilian leaders
ISLAMABAD: A White House official said on Wednesday there was no meeting scheduled between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, after a Reuters report cited sources saying Munir is expected to travel to Washington in the coming weeks for talks that could focus on a proposed multinational force for post-war security and aid delivery in Gaza.
Trump’s Gaza plan, outlined as part of a 20-point framework, envisages the deployment of troops from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase, intended to support security and governance as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory moves toward reconstruction and a longer-term political settlement.
Reuters reported that Washington saw Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor given its battle-hardened military, which has fought a brief but intense conflict with India this year and continues to combat insurgencies in its remote regions, adding that the visit would mark Munir’s third meeting with Trump in six months.
“This is not on the President’s calendar at this time,” a White House official said on background, responding to an Arab News query about a possible Trump-Munir meeting.
Munir has met Trump twice in recent months. In June, he was invited to a White House luncheon, an unusual and unprecedented interaction in which a US president hosted a Pakistani military leader without the presence of civilian authorities.
A second meeting took place in October, when Trump hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and publicly thanked Munir – whom he described as his “favorite” field marshal – for Pakistan’s efforts toward peace in Gaza, alongside leaders of other Muslim nations.
Pakistan this week reiterated its position the situation in West Asia during an open debate at the UN Security Council, calling for a “time-bound and irreversible” political process anchored in relevant UN resolutions that would lead to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous Palestinian state.
Islamabad and Washington have meanwhile sought to repair ties after years of strained relations, with both sides working to boost bilateral trade and investment following what officials have described as a favorable tariff deal.
