LAGOS: At least 59 people have been killed in Nigeria when a fuel tanker exploded after colliding with a truck carrying passengers and cattle, a rescue agency said on Monday.
Photographs released by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency or SEMA showed workers burying more than a dozen bodies of victims from the incident that took place on Sunday.
Images showed burnt vehicles, one still engulfed in smoke and flames after the incident in Niger’s Agaie local government district.
The spokesman for the Niger SEMA, Ibrahim Husseini, told media the victims were given a mass burial after the accident.
“The incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS (fuel) collided with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle,” a SEMA statement said. It added two other vehicles, a crane and a pickup van, were also involved in the tragic incident.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago expressed his sorrow and grief over the colossal loss, asking local residents to remain calm.
Fuel tanker explosions are quite common in Africa’s most populous nation, where roads are poorly maintained. According to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), more than 5,000 people were killed in road accidents in Nigeria in 2023, as compared to nearly 6,500 the previous year.
The World Health Organization said the data does not take into account accidents not reported to the authorities. In a report published last year, it said annual road accident deaths in Nigeria could be nearly 40,000.
Deadly fires and explosions also occur in the fuel and oil infrastructure in Nigeria, one of the continent’s largest oil producers.
Two years ago, around 110 people were killed when an illegal oil refinery exploded in the south of the nation.
Nigeria recently faced acute fuel shortages after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) said it was struggling with debts.
A sudden increase in the oil prices by NNPCL last week has added to the financial problems for Nigerians already facing a cost-of-living crisis.
