Four Egyptian students killed in motorcycle fuel tank explosion inside house

Four Egyptian students were killed in a fuel tank explosion inside a house in Upper Egypt’s Assiut Governorate while they were studying together ahead of upcoming exams, security and local sources said.

The incident occurred in the village of Bani Shaqir in the Manfalut district, where the four grade 9 students had gathered inside a room to revise lessons before examinations scheduled in the coming days.

Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the students were cleaning the fuel tank of a motorcycle using a metal wire when the explosion occurred.

Investigators said a portable air-conditioning unit was operating inside the closed room, and an electrical spark from the motorcycle is believed to have ignited the fuel, triggering a blast and a fast-moving fire.

Security authorities in Assiut received reports of the incident on Saturday and dispatched criminal investigation teams and ambulances to the scene.

The four students died from severe injuries sustained in the explosion and fire, officials said.

The bodies were transferred to Manfalut Central Hospital, while public prosecutors launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The deaths cast a pall of grief over the village, where local residents said the victims had been close friends since childhood.