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Death toll rises to 20 in Peru gas truck blast
January 31, 2020
LIMA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from last week's gas tanker truck explosion in Peru's capital Lima climbed to 20, after four more victims succumbed to their injuries, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
Among the deceased were 13 adults and seven minors. More than 20 people continue to be hospitalized with severe burns.
Another 11 people who sustained minor injuries in the Jan. 23 accident were released from the hospital the same day as the explosion in the city's Villa el Salvador district.
Authorities said the tanker truck hit a bump in the road and led to a gas leak, sparking a fire and explosion which damaged or destroyed some 20 nearby homes.
Peru's Housing Ministry has pledged to repair the houses damaged by the fire in the next 30 days, and to demolish and rebuild the houses that were destroyed in the next three months. ■
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