According to authorities, a deadly explosion happened in Jigawa state along the Kano-Hadejia expressway.
More than 140 people have died in a fuel tanker explosion in northern Nigeria, according to a national emergency service spokesman.
The victims in the Jigawa state town of Majia were burned to death on Tuesday while attempting to gather gasoline that had leaked from the downed car.
A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nura Abdullahi, stated on Wednesday that “more than 140” victims had been interred in a mass grave and issued a warning that the number was probably going to increase.
According to police spokesperson Lawan Adamu, the tanker burst near the Kano-Hadejia expressway in the Taura local government area of Jigawa state.
He continued by saying that the incident happened on Tuesday night and that the truck started a large fire that burnt till Wednesday at 3:15.
At least fifty of the cattle in the Agaie district of north-central Niger state that were being transported by the fuel tanker perished in the flames, according to Abdullahi Baba-Arab, director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency.
In the most populous country in Africa, fuel tanker explosions are frequent due to badly maintained roads and a tendency among the populace to siphon off fuel after accidents.
Given that Nigeria is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation, fuel has become an even more valuable commodity.
Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu eliminated subsidies for gasoline last year, the price of the fuel has increased fivefold, and shortages are common.
After the state oil company raised rates for the second time in less than two months last week, desperation became even further.
hazardous routes
Tanker accidents are common in the nation; in 2020, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) reported 1,531 incidents involving tankers, which resulted in 535 fatalities.
In northwest Niger state, a fuel tanker collided with a truck transporting people and cattle last month, resulting in at least 59 fatalities.
According to the FRSC, there were over 5,000 road deaths in Nigeria in 2023 as opposed to about 6,500 the year before.
However, the World Health Organization claims that accidents that are not reported to the authorities are not included in the statistics.
In a survey released the previous year, it estimated that there are closer to 40,000 road accident deaths in Nigeria each year.
of addition, fatal fires and explosions occur throughout the gasoline and oil infrastructure of Nigeria, one of the major producers of crude oil on the continent.
