Uganda gas tanker explosion kills 29

AT LEAST 29 people have been killed in Uganda after a car crashed into the back of a fuel tanker and residents rushed to siphon fuel, police say.

Police spokesman Ibn Senkumbi said the tanker exploded after colliding with a passenger car late on Saturday on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

Most of the dead were passenger motorcyclists who had tried to siphon gas from the tanker.

Victims nursing serious bus were rushed to the main referral hospital in Kampala, where there were at least 20 badly bued patients. Visitors were being tued away by police and security officials who said doctors and nurses there had been overwhelmed by the number of casualties from the gas explosion.

Explosions involving moving gas tankers happen frequently in Uganda, often killing those who rush to the scene with plastic cans hoping to steal fuel.

Musa Ecweru, the Ugandan minister for disaster preparedness, described the incident as an avoidable \"calamity\".

Mr Ecweru said it was unfortunate that some people had failed to lea from past mistakes.

\"We have always told our people to stay away from trucks that involve inflammable products such as petrol,\" he said.

\"We thought they would lea from the lessons of the past.\"