Collision of gas truck and car in Mongolia sets off explosions that kill 3 firefighters

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — A truck carrying 60 tons of liquefied natural gas and a car collided at an intersection in the Mongolian capital early Wednesday, causing a massive fireball and a series of explosions that killed three firefighters and injured 11 people, officials said.

Images showed the huge blaze at the scene of the crash outside a shopping center, close to an apartment building and an international school in Ulaanbaatar. The 12-story apartment building caught fire, with firefighters working until early morning to extinguish the flames.

Mongolia’s Emergency Management Office told The Associated Press that a total of three explosions occurred after the crash, the last of which killed the three firefighters. The authority expressed condolences to the firefighters’ families in a Facebook post.

Ten people were taken to a hospital to be treated for burns and another person was being treated at a poison center, authorities said. Forty-three people were evacuated from the burning apartment building.

More than two dozen cars caught fire in the explosions.