KATHMANDU — At least 12 people have been killed in a road accident in western Iran on Saturday when a fuel tanker exploded. Seven people were injured in the incident, state-run IRIB news agency reported on Sunday.

The accident occurred on the inter-provincial road connecting Sanandaz County in Kurdistan Province and Hamedan County in Hamedan Province. After the accident, the fuel tanker caught fire and exploded.

Babak Hodai, head of emergency medical services at the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, said many vehicles caught fire after the incident.

A rescue team reached the spot immediately after the incident. The injured were rescued and taken to a hospital in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, for treatment, Hodai said.

The cause of the accident and further details of the damage are being investigated by the concerned authorities. Rescue and search operations are still underway at the scene, officials said.