QUETTA, June 20: Three oil tankers carrying petrol to Kandahar for allied forces caught fire in the border town Chaman late on Sunday night, injuring their drivers seriously, officials said.

The tankers were parked outside the Chaman customs house for clearance when they caught fire at around 10.30pm. The drivers immediately took the burning tankers out of the customs house, saving the other vehicles loaded with export goods for Afghanistan.

The drivers of the oil tankers received serious burn injuries and were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Chaman. The condition of all the three is serious, hospital sources said.

Meanwhile, the burning petrol also reached at the levies check post at Pakistan-Afghan border which was completely burnt. The oil tankers were burning till late night as fire tenders could not control the fire despite hectic efforts.

"The fire irrupted accidentally," Pishin Scouts Commandant Col Basit Rana told Dawn when reached over telephone at Pakistan-Afghan border. He said the oil tankers were parked inside the customs house as it was Sunday.

Ruling out any subversive activity in this connection, he said that according to the initial information a driver was cooking his food near the oil tanker which caused the accident.

"It is not a subversive act, it is an accident," Col Basit said, adding that the other vehicles remained safe from the fire. However, an eyewitness account says that an explosion was heard before the oil tankers caught fire.

The officials of the Chaman administration did not confirm the explosion.