10 die in Pakistan explosion

At least 10 people were killed and over 50 injured on Tuesday in a series of explosions during the cleaning of an unused oil tanker at the Balochistan port in Pakistan, the media reported.

The incident occurred at the Gaddani ship-breaking yard in the country's biggest province.

"Over 200 workers are trapped inside the yard engulfed by flames," the Deputy General Secretary National Trade Union Federation, Nasir Mansoor, told Express News.

At least eight explosions took place in the oil tanker due to gas welding work, Dawn News reported.

Several labourers were on the ship at the time of the blasts. Rescue work was on.

The Gaddani ship-breaking yard is the world's third largest. The yard consists of 132 ship-breaking plots located across a 10 km long beachfront at Gaddani.

More than 15,000 workers are directly employed at the yard while another two million earn their livelihood indirectly from the work.

--IANS

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