MASNAA (Lebanon) Feb 16: Fifteen people were killedon Sunday and another 15 injured when a runaway oil truck slammed into a line of cars waiting to cross from Lebanon into Syria, engulfing them in a fire ball, hospital staff said.

Medics said many of the injured had suffered severe burns, while rescue workers warned more bodies could yet be recovered from the charred remains of the vehicles caught up in the inferno.

The bodies of three young children were among those already recovered, they added. The Syrian army tanker truck was heading down a hill to custom’s control at this border post when its brakes failed, witnesses said.

A cement barrier, designed to halt runaway vehicles, failed to stop the tanker, which slammed into the customs building and the long line of cars waiting outside.—AFP