Source. At least 140 people died in Nigeria due to the explosion of a fuel tanker truck on Tuesday night, the authority in charge of emergency management reported this Wednesday, warning that the death toll may rise.
The truck suffered an accident on a road in the state of Jigawa, in northern Nigeria, and many of the victims were hit by the explosion when they went to collect fuel, police spokesman Lawan Shiisu Adam told AFP.
Nura Abdullahi, spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), reported that “more than 140” people were buried in a mass grave and warned that the number of victims was likely to rise.
After the accident in the town of Majia, residents gathered around the vehicle to collect the spilled fuel, Adam reported.
The spokesman explained that the police arrived at the scene and tried to dissuade them, but that the officers were “overwhelmed.”
Tanker truck explosions are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where roads are poorly maintained and people try to collect fuel when an accident occurs.
Nigeria is suffering an acute economic crisis with inflation at 32.7 percent year-on-year in September and gasoline prices rising five-fold since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cut subsidies last year.
Review of security protocols
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) recorded 1,531 accidents involving tankers in 2020 and 535 deaths. These deadly incidents also cause damage to the environment.
Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima expressed the government’s shock at the “devastating tragedy.”
Shettima called for a “total review of safety protocols for fuel transportation in Nigeria” and the “immediate deployment of personnel and resources” of relief entities.
At the Senate headquarters in the capital Abuja, senators observed a minute of silence for the victims.
In early September, at least 59 people were killed in Nigeria when a fuel tanker collided with a truck carrying passengers and livestock in Niger state.
The FRSC recorded 5,000 deaths in road accidents in Nigeria in 2023, compared to 6,500 in 2022.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that many accidents are not reported to the authorities and estimates that about 40,000 people die annually on Nigerian roads, according to a 2023 report.
In Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest crude oil producers, deadly fires and explosions are also reported in oil and fuel distribution infrastructure.
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