On Saturday, the truck carrying 60,000 liters of gasoline overturned on a road in the middle of the nation and exploded.
According to emergency services, 86 people have died as a result of the explosion of a gasoline tanker truck in Nigeria that killed those rushing to collect fuel.
According to authorities, the truck carrying 60,000 liters (about 16,000 gallons) of gasoline flipped over on a route in the middle of the nation on Saturday and exploded.
“The final death toll from the tanker explosion is 86,” stated Ibrahim Audu Husseini, the emergency management agency spokesperson for Niger state, on Sunday.
He updated an earlier toll of 70: “We buried 86 burnt corpses between 12:00 pm yesterday to 2:00 am of today,” he stated.
“It took us 14 hours to bury the bodies because we couldn’t get excavators and had to get locals to dig the mass grave manually.”
“Severe burns from the explosion” were said to have occurred to fifty-two other victims.
The Dikko intersection, which connects the northern city of Kaduna with the federal capital Abuja, was the site of the explosion.
A nationwide initiative
In pursuit of fuel, whose price has skyrocketed in an economic crisis, a throng of people hurried to the location where the tanker had capsized.
President Bola Tinubu increased the cost of food and transportation after eliminating a gasoline subsidy after assuming office in 2023.
“Deep sorrow over the fuel tanker explosion” was Tinubu’s statement from his office that was released on Sunday.
“He underscored the tragic and preventable nature of the incident.”
“Raise public awareness about the severe risks and environmental dangers of scooping fuel from fallen tankers” is what he ordered as the goal of a nationwide campaign.
A similar disaster in northern Nigeria’s Jigawa State in October claimed the lives of over 170 individuals.
Over 535 people lost their lives in 1,531 fuel tanker incidents in 2020, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps.
