The Director General of Civil Defense, Lieutenant General Saad bin Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, said the number of the dead people as a result of a gas tanker explosion, which occurred on Khurais Road on Thursday morning, rose to 22 and 111 injured with 3 persons still missing. He said in remarks broadcast from the scene on 'Al-Ekhbariyah' Channel that the incident occurred because of the misconduct of the tanker driver who is a national of an Asian country, pointing out that the civil defense as it was notified about the incident applied a contingency plan. He also noted that a huge fire had erupted as a result of the gas leak from the tanker which extended to a distance of 300 meters from the site of the collision of the tanker with a flyover of Khurais Road intersection with Sheikh Jaber Street in Riyadh, explaining that 'the fire has almost finished now.' He warned of injuries that might occur to about 10,000 people of the crowds and passers-by, who had gathered to watch the incident as a result of the gas leak, stressing that the gas leakage effects still exist, saying that the gathering of 10,000 citizens and residents at the scene exposes them to risks and hamper the works of civil defense men. He asked the media to warn the people against approaching the scene of the incident and he offered his condolences to the families of the victims. For his part, the Commander of Ring Roads and Secret Police Traffic in Riyadh Lieutenant Colonel Ali Al-Qahtani said that Khurais Road is closed from both directions until the completion of consequences of the incident, expecting that the Road will not open before Friday.
