147 people were killed and 50 others injured when a fuel tanker exploded in northern… Nigeria Late yesterday, Tuesday, according to the latest toll published by police and local relief teams yesterday evening, Wednesday.
Police and emergency services in Jigawa State in northern Nigeria said that the deaths were caused by a fuel tanker explosion after it overturned late Tuesday in the state after the driver lost control of it, which led to a fuel leak and the tanker explosion.
Police spokesman Lawan Chieso Adam said many victims were trying to collect fuel that was spilled on the road in Jigawa State.
The spokesman indicated that the tanker tried to avoid colliding with a truck in the town of Magia, located about 100 kilometers north of Kano, the largest city in the north of the country.
After the incident, residents gathered around the vehicle and tried to collect the fuel that had spilled, according to Adam, who confirmed that security personnel had difficulty controlling them.
Nigeria – the largest country in Africa in terms of population, and which suffers from a poor road network – is witnessing a series of tanker accidents, after which residents seek to loot fuel.
This material has become a precious commodity, at a time when Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in a generation.
The price of fuel has risen five-fold since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu eliminated subsidies last year, while the country usually records a shortage.
The situation worsened last week after the state oil company raised prices for the second time in just over a month.
Tanker accidents are common in Nigeria, as the Federal Road Safety Committee recorded 1,531 accidents in 2020, causing the death of 535 people.
At least 59 people were killed last month when a fuel tanker collided with a truck carrying passengers and livestock in Niger State (northwest).
The committee stated that more than 5,000 people died in accidents on Nigerian roads in 2023, compared to about 6,500 in the previous year, but the World Health Organization reports that the numbers do not include accidents that were not reported to the authorities.
The committee estimates that the annual death toll from road accidents in Nigeria is closer to 40,000, according to what it stated in a report published last year.
Fires and explosions also occur in fuel and oil infrastructure in Nigeria, which is one of the largest crude producers on the continent.