This September 8, 2024 photo shows fire and smoke billowing from a fuel tanker after it collided with a truck carrying passengers and cattle on a route in Agai local government district of Niger state. Videograb: Niger State Emergency Management Agency via AFP
More than 90 people were killed and 50 others were injured when a gasoline tanker overturned and exploded in Nigeria, police said on Wednesday (October 16, 2024) as dozens of people rushed to the vehicle to get fuel.
Police spokesman Lawnon Adam said the explosion occurred at midnight in Majia town in Jigawa state when the tanker driver lost control of the vehicle while traveling on a highway close to a university.
Fatal tanker accidents are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where traffic rules are not strictly enforced in many places and there is a lack of alternatives such as efficient railway systems to transport goods.
It is also common for people to want to save fuel after such accidents, especially due to the rising fuel prices in Nigeria.
Residents who heard about the latest accident rushed to the scene and were collecting fuel, Mr Adam said, when a “terrible fire broke out, killing 94 people on the spot”.
Videos from the scene show massive fire spreading across the area and bodies visible scattered at the scene.
published – October 16, 2024 05:03 PM IST