As many as 18 Indians lost their lives, and over 130 sustained injuries in an LPG tanker blast at a ceramic factory in Sudan's capital Khartoum on Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses said the fire engulfed the factory after a gas tanker exploded while unloading its shipment at the factory. The blast at Ceramica Saloomi was so powerful that it shooked the locality and blew the tanker into a nearby lot.

Speaking on the incident, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the Government of India has just received tragic news of a major blast in a ceramic factory Saloomi in Bahri area of the capital Khartoum in Sudan.

The govt is deeply grieved to learn that some Indian workers have lost their lives while some others have been seriously injured and it has established a 24-hour hotline set up for the emergency. Jaishankar also said that Indian embassy representative were present at the spot.