A fuel tanker overturned in the African country of Nigeria on Saturday morning, killing 70 people trying to retrieve the spilled petrol.
The head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger State, Kumar Sokwam, told AFP by telephone that “the death toll is 70 so far.”
Sukwam said the accident involving a truck loaded with 60,000 liters of petrol occurred at Dikko Junction on the road connecting the capital Abuja to the northern city of Kaduna at 10am.
He said that most of the victims have not been identified. We are on the scene to clear things up.’
A statement from the FSRC said that ‘a large crowd of people had gathered to get petrol, when the tanker suddenly burst into flames, engulfing another tanker parked nearby.’
The statement said that ’till now 60 bodies have been recovered from the crime scene. The victims are mostly trash.’
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Shortly after his election last year, President Bola Tinubu ended fuel subsidies, which drove up prices of essential commodities and other goods, sparking protests across the country.
Petrol prices in Nigeria have increased fivefold in 18 months, prompting many to risk their lives to retrieve fuel during tanker truck accidents, which are common in Africa’s most populous country. are
Niger State Governor Umaru Bagu said in a statement that the blast was “worrying, heartbreaking and unfortunate.”
“An unknown number of people have suffered burns of varying degrees,” he said.
In October, more than 170 people died in a similar incident in northern Nigeria’s Jigawa state.
In 2020, the FRSC recorded 1,530 fuel tanker accidents, with over 535 fatalities.
