BAHAWALPUR: An oil tanker having thousands of litres of petrol was damaged in a fire during filling of a reservoir at a fuel station in Kudwala area of Yazman about 30 kilometres from here on Saturday.

The driver showed presence of mind and accelerated the vehicle away, averting a disaster at the filling station.

According to officials of the Rescue 1122, an oil tanker with a capacity of 15,000-litre petrol was filling the reservoir of a petrol pump near Kudwala when the vehicle caught fire. The driver immediately took the vehicle away from the populated area. Police cordoned off the area and Rescue 1122 took two hours extinguishing the flames that had the vehicle gutted.

Meanwhile, a team of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) with the assistance of revenue department officials, Nadra and Ahmedpur East assistant commissioner completed the biometric verification of the cheque recipients (each cheque of Rs1 million) of the victims of June’s oil tanker tragedy.

Assistant Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Tayyab said the team completed the biometric verification of 164 cheque recipients who were given clearance to collect payment from their respective banks. He said verification of 10 people had been delayed owing to stay orders.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2017