More than 150 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded after an overturned fuel tanker exploded in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said.
The crash on Tuesday night took place on an expressway in Jigawa state. People then rushed to the vehicle to collect the fuel, police spokesman Lawan Shiisu Adam said on Wednesday.
“The residents were scooping up fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, sparking a massive inferno,” he told The Associated Press news agency.
Officials said on Thursday that the death toll had risen to 153, as mass funerals were being held.
Videos that appeared to be from the scene showed a massive fire stretching across the entire area, with what appeared to be bodies littered at the scene. The blaze burned into the early hours of Wednesday.
The tanker, which had travelled about 110km (68 miles) from neighbouring Kano state, veered to avoid colliding with a truck in the town of Majia, according to police.
Massive fire
“The tanker crashed while conveying products to the northern parts of Nigeria. It was driving along a major highway when it spilled its contents,” said Al Jazeera’s Fidelis Mbah, reporting from Sokoto.
“Most of the villages around there, the residents, rushed to the scene to try and scoop up the fuel – either for domestic or commercial purposes. And in the process, within minutes, the tanker exploded killing dozens of them right there at the spot,” he said, adding that authorities fear the death toll may increase.
At least 50 wounded people were taken to local hospitals in Ringim and Hadejia towns where they were being treated, police and emergency workers said.
The Nigerian Medical Association urged doctors to rush to nearby emergency rooms to help with the influx of patients, while Nigerian lawmakers observed a minute’s silence in the Senate.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima called for a safety review and said the federal government was sending resources to support those affected.
Deadly truck accidents are common along most of the main roads in Nigeria, with experts attributing many of them to reckless driving, poor road conditions and ill-maintained vehicles.
Last month, at least 48 people were killed in an explosion after a fuel tanker collided with another truck in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State.
In 2020 alone, there were 1,531 petrol tanker crashes resulting in 535 deaths and injuries to 1,142 people, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.
Tanker explosions can result in mass casualties as residents often look to siphon off fuel following accidents. Fuel has also become an even more precious commodity as Nigeria suffers its worst economic crisis in a generation.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company in early September increased the price of petrol by at least 39 percent, the second steep hike in more than a year.
