Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
At least 18 people were killed and more than a hundred injured after an oil tanker truck exploded on a highway in China on Saturday, according to the media report.
The force of the blast caused nearby homes and factories to collapse, the government said on social media.
Video footage of the accident near Wenling city in the eastern province of Zhejiang published by state media showed a huge ball of fire shooting into the air as people screamed.
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In one of the clips, a large piece of debris is seen flying into the air before crashing onto some nearby buildings.
Another video showed the remains of the tanker and several truck tyres smashed into a building which had been reduced to rubble.
Hundreds of firefighters were sent to the scene for rescue work.
As of Sunday morning, a total of 166 injured people were receiving medical treatment in hospitals.
Rescue and search operation are still underway.
Last month, at least six people were killed and 20 others injured after a speeding bus turned turtle and crashed into a guardrail in southwest China’s Sichuan province.
In September 2019, 36 people were killed and many injured after a packed coach with a flat tyre collided with a truck in east China.
The bus was carrying 69 people — its maximum capacity — when it crossed into oncoming traffic and hit the freight truck on an expressway in eastern Jiangsu province
Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.
According to authorities, 58,000 people have been killed in accidents across the country in 2015 alone, the last available figures.
Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 per cent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.
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