20 killed, 21 injured to save a burning fuel tanker

DEBRE TABOR, GONDER – At least 20 people were killed and 21 seriously injured when they were trying to put out a fire that had engulfed a fuel tanker near the small town of Kimir Dingai on Wednesday.


Fully loaded and on its way from Woldia to Kimir Dingai, the tanker with a trailer was owned by TPLF, and was the target of a powerful land mine buried by rebels of the Ethiopian Unity and Freedom Force (EUFF). The victims were all passengers on a bus that was heading from Gonder to Woldia town.
The tanker hit the mine on Golesh Mer Bridge at 2:00 pm local time, and was caught up in an inferno when the passengers disembarked their bus to help but were killed in an ensuing huge explosion.
An EUFF spokesperson told Ethiomedia by phone that the rebel organization deeply regretted the unintended loss of civilian lives in a target that was aimed at destroying the property of a repressive regime.
EUFF has stepped up military operations in recent times, speciallydestroying TPLF/EPRDF property and targetting prisons to free detained political prisoners.