Nigeria fuel tanker explosion kills over 90, injures dozens

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Police say explosion on Jigawa state expressway happened as dozens of people rushed to the vehicle to collect fuel.

More than 90 people have been killed and 50 wounded after a fuel tanker exploded in northwestern Nigeria, according to police.

The overnight explosion took place on an expressway in Jigawa state as dozens of people rushed to the vehicle to collect the fuel, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.

“The residents were scooping up fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, sparking a massive inferno that killed 94 people on the spot,” Lawan Adamu told The Associated Press news agency.

The fire burned into the early hours of Wednesday.

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.

Deadly truck accidents are common along most of the major roads in Nigeria, with experts attributing many of them to reckless driving, poor road conditions and poorly maintained vehicles.

In 2020 alone, there were 1,531 petrol tanker crashes resulting in 535 fatalities and 1,142 injuries, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company in early September increased the price of petrol by at least 39 percent, the second major hike in more than a year.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies