The 2004 Nosratabad fuel tanker explosion was a catastrophic incident that took place on 24 June 2004, near
Iran's
border with
Afghanistan, resulting in at least 90 fatalities and 114 injuries. The disaster occurred when a
petrol truck lost control and collided with a bus at the
Nosratabad
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police checkpoint, located about west of
Zahedan.
Background
Iran has a high rate of road accidents, with an average of 22,000 annual fatalities at the time of the disaster.
Police checkpoints, mostly present to check for drugs, are commonplace on roads in the vicinity of Zahedan, the capital of
Sistan and Baluchestan province. The checkpoint at Nosratabad was situated on a sharp bend and was known for creating long queues of buses and cars, and its location and outdated inspection methods would later be criticised by Zahedan
parliamentarian Hossein Ali Shahriari
Hossein Ali Shahriari (Persianحسین علی شهریاری born in 1951 in Zabol, Iran, is a physician, politician, member of the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the d ...
.
Earlier in the year on 18 February 2004, a train carrying
sulphur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
,
fertiliser, petrol, and
cotton wool
Cotton wool consists of silky fibers taken from cotton plants in their raw state. Impurities, such as seeds, are removed and the cotton is then bleached using hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite and sterilized. It is also a refined product ( ...
derailed, separated, and exploded near
Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
, killing almost 300 people.
Incident
The petrol truck was carrying more than of petrol when it lost control and collided with an electricity pylon and then a bus at the police post, where other vehicles were waiting in line.
The impact caused the truck to explode, creating a fireball that engulfed five other buses and several additional vehicles that were stopped at the checkpoint, some of which were carrying tar, further exacerbating the flames. The explosion was so intense that many of the victims were charred beyond recognition.
According to the state-run
Islamic Republic News Agency, most of the victims were women and children who were waiting inside the buses while the men were being searched by the police outside.
[{{Cite web , date=2004-06-26 , title=Fuel truck-bus crash kills 90 in Iran - Taipei Times , url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/06/26/2003176604 , access-date=2023-06-19 , website=Taipei Times] The victims were burnt to death due to a lack of firefighting equipment at the police station in Nosratabad.
Mehran Nourbakhsh, a spokesperson for the
Iranian Red Crescent Society
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), officially the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Jamʿiyyat-e Helâl-e Ahmar-e Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is a n ...
, stated that 90 people had died in the blast and 114 had been injured. He added that the organization had dispatched 40 workers to the scene to provide aid.
See also
*
List of accidents and disasters by death toll
References
2004 disasters in Iran
Explosions in 2004
2004 road incidents
2000s road incidents in Asia
Explosions in Iran
Accidental deaths in Iran
History of Sistan and Baluchestan province
June 2004 events in Iran
Tank truck explosions
2004 industrial disasters
Road incidents in Iran