Nigeria: Fuel tank explosion kills at least 140 people and injures dozens | Transport News

Police say an explosion on the highway in Jigawa state occurred when people rushed to the overturned car to collect fuel.

At least 140 people have been killed and dozens injured after a fuel tanker exploded in northwestern Nigeria, according to police and emergency workers.

The explosion occurred during the night on a highway in Jigawa State. People then rushed to the vehicle to collect fuel, police spokesman Lawan Chisso Adam said on Wednesday.

Haruna Miriga, head of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, put the death toll at 147 people. He told the Associated Press that 97 people were “burned to ashes” at the scene.

Noura Abdullah, spokeswoman for the National Emergency Management Agency, said that “more than 140 people” who died were buried during a mass funeral. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise further.

Earlier, police said that at least 94 people were killed and 50 others were injured.

The tanker, which traveled about 110 kilometers (68 miles) from neighboring Kano state, swerved to avoid colliding with a truck in Magia town, police said.

Adam said that after the accident, residents gathered around the car, which likely increased the number of victims.

“Residents were collecting fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, causing a massive fire,” he told the Associated Press.

Videos that appeared to be from the scene showed a massive fire that spread across the entire area throughout the night, with what appeared to be bodies scattered at the scene.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

wildfire

He added, “The tanker crashed while transporting products to the northern parts of Nigeria. “It was traveling along a major highway when its contents spilled,” Al Jazeera’s Fidelis Mbah said in a report from Sokoto.

“Residents of most of the surrounding villages rushed to the scene to try to collect fuel – whether for domestic or commercial purposes. During this process, within minutes, the tanker exploded killing dozens of them at the scene,” he said, adding that authorities feared the death toll could rise.

Police and emergency workers said that at least 50 injured people were taken to local hospitals in the towns of Ringem and Hadeja, where they were receiving treatment.

The Nigerian Medical Association urged doctors to rush to nearby emergency rooms to help deal with the influx of patients, while Nigerian lawmakers observed a minute of silence in the Senate.

In a statement on Wednesday, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima called for a review of safety measures and said the federal government was sending resources to support those affected.

Fatal truck accidents are common along most major roads in Nigeria, and experts attribute many of them to reckless driving, poor road conditions and poor vehicle maintenance.

Last month, at least 48 people were killed in an explosion after a fuel tanker collided with another truck in Niger State, north-central Nigeria.

In 2020 alone, there were 1,531 accidents involving petrol tankers, resulting in 535 deaths and 1,142 injuries, according to the Federal Road Safety Authority of Nigeria.

Tanker explosions can lead to mass casualties as residents often look to withdraw fuel after accidents. Fuel has also become a more valuable commodity as Nigeria suffers the worst economic crisis in a generation.

In early September, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation raised the price of gasoline by at least 39 percent, the second sharp increase in more than a year.