Afghanistan: Gas explosion kills 10 children displaced by war in Herat

A chain of explosions at a gas terminal in the city of Herat, Western Afghanistan, has killed 10 children and an adult living at a camp for people displaced by war. The incident occurred late last night (24 August).

The reverberations were felt around the country's third-largest city as the resulting fire stretched high into the night sky. Hospital spokesman Mohammad Rafiq Shirzai said 18 others were wounded and that all of the people were from the same camp. Four of the injured were sent to neighbouring Iran for further treatment after suffering 90% burns, according to the Associated Press.

"Around midnight a gas tanker exploded, which triggered blasts in a gas storage plant, killing 11 people and injuring 10 others," Herat police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told Agence France-Presse.

It remains unclear whether the explosion was the result of an attack, or an accident. Domestic gas cylinder blasts happen daily in Afghanistan as the cylinders are used for household cooking.

According to the UN, there are 805,409 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Afghanistan, of which 700,000 suffered from upheaval due to conflict.