what would cause this? looks to be in an Arabic country.

I don't know, but the person peelin' out without removing the filler nozzle was pretty funny...

You gotta have both fuel, and an oxidizer (usually air). If either is missing, no big badda boom.

They probably have real gas...not the goat pee that we are forced to use.

Yes, my parents owned a service station in the late 50s early 6os and the gas back then was a much higher octane blend.

It's scary, but the underground tank setup did its job. The explosion was contained.

I wonder if one of the tanks was near or almost completely empty allowing air to be pump up to the pumps and hoses allowing static electricity to flow back into that tank causing the explosion.?
Full tanks don't explode like that, half empty or less will

Towel head bomb. Just a normal typical day.

Probably some Hadji trying to keep up to date on his IED skills!

The no smoking sign is there for this reason!

[quote=67vertman]what would cause this? looks to be in an Arabic country. [quote]

Like Dearborn?

Hory sheit!

Given the flame, coupled with lack of post-explosion burn, I'm thinking an improperly vented waste tank of some sort. A build-up of methane gas sparked by an automatic transfer pump, maybe?

And a few other areas as well.