Tanker Truck Explosion Kills at Least 23 People in Southern
Philippines
February 1, 2007 21:08 PST
By OLIVER TEVES

MANILA, Philippines -- At least 23 people were killed and 15 others
injured when a tanker truck exploded as it was negotiating a downhill
mountain road in the southern Philippines, police officials said
Friday.

The truck apparently lost its brakes, slammed into the side of a
mountain and overturned, killing the driver, said Senior
Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, police chief of Zamboanga del Sur
province.

He said witnesses accounts and documents recovered from the scene
indicated the tanker was carrying compressed carbon dioxide gas. An
initial police report said it was carrying liquefied petroleum gas.

Passing motorists and passengers of a minibus that was following the
truck tried to help extricate other truck crewmen on the highway in
the town of Tigbao, he said.