More than 50 people were killed when a fuel tanker collided head-on with another truck in Nigeria on Sunday causing an explosion, the country’s emergency response agency said.
Abdullahi Baba-Arab, director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, stated that at least 50 cattle also carried by the tanker were burnt alive.
He stressed that 30 bodies of victims were found while rescue operations were initiated, with an additional 18 bodies burnt to death in the collision found afterwards. He said the dead had been given a mass burial.
Meanwhile, governor of Niger state, Mohammed Bago, while calling on residents of the affected area to remain calm, enjoined road users to "always be cautious and abide by road traffic regulations to safeguard lives and property.”
With the absence of an efficient railway system to transport cargo, fatal truck accidents are common along most major roads in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
According to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps, 1,531 gasoline tanker crashes resulted in 535 fatalities and 1,142 injuries in 2020 alone.
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