NIGERIA, Jan 19: At least 70 people have lost their lives in north-central Nigeria after a gasoline tanker exploded, the country’s emergency response agency said.
The explosion occurred in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to transfer gasoline from one tanker into another truck using a generator. The fuel transfer sparked the explosion, resulting in the deaths of those transferring the gasoline and bystanders, Hussaini Isah, of the National Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press.
Search and rescue operations are underway, Isah said.
With the absence of an efficient railway system to transport cargo, fatal truck accidents are common along most of the major roads in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
In September, an explosion killed at least 48 people in Niger state after a gasoline tanker collided with another truck carrying cattle.
There were 1,531 gasoline tanker crashes in 2020 resulting in 535 fatalities and 1,142 injuries, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.