A tragic incident occurred on the Wahat Road in the city of 6th of October in southern Egypt on Tuesday evening, after an explosion of a main gas pipeline, resulting in the death of 3 people and injuring 13 others, in addition to several cars catching fire at the scene of the accident.
In terrifying moments, flames rose heavily into the sky of the area, accompanied by massive smoke clouds covering the atmosphere, amidst screams of panic from citizens who were near the explosion site.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as "hell on earth," as the fire engulfed several cars and turned them into charred structures within minutes.
Civil defense forces and fire trucks rushed to the scene in a race against time to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to neighboring areas. Authorities completely closed the Wahat Road and redirected traffic to secure the area, while technical teams worked on shutting down the explosive gas pipeline.
The Ministry of Health announced in an official statement that 8 of the injured were transferred to Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital, while the remaining 5 were taken to 6th of October Central Hospital, deploying 12 fully equipped ambulances to the accident site to provide urgent medical care.
The Public Prosecution immediately opened an investigation into the incident, amid popular demands to reveal the causes of the explosion and hold any party responsible for negligence or misconduct accountable.
This painful incident raises questions about safety measures in vital infrastructure, sounding the alarm once again about the urgent need to secure gas pipelines and intensify supervision and regular maintenance in such areas.