100 killed after fuel tanker explodes

ABUJA, Nigeria — More than 100 people were killed and 50 others injured in northwestern Nigeria as they tried to scoop up fuel from an overturned petrol tanker, causing the vehicle to explode in flames, the emergency services said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at midnight in Jigawa state's Majiya town after the tanker driver lost control of the vehicle on a highway, local police said. The driver had traveled about 110 kilometers from the neighboring Kano state, police said.

Ninety-seven people were killed at the scene while eight others died in the hospital, Haruna Mairiga, head of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, told The Associated Press.

The victims were mostly people who had rushed to the scene to collect gasoline after the tanker lost control and overturned, Lawan Adam, the spokesman for the Jigawa police, told Xinhua News Agency.

"The tanker spilled its contents into a drainage ditch after overturning. The high casualty count is due to the crowd that gathered around the accident scene," Adam said.

It has become more common for people to salvage fuel with cups and buckets to take home after such accidents amid Nigeria's soaring fuel prices, which have tripled since the start of last year.

Residents in Majiya town were in mourning on Wednesday morning as locals held a mass burial for the victims. Most of the bodies were unrecognizable, the emergency services said.

"If they knew (about the danger), they wouldn't have gone to fetch (the fuel)," said Mairiga, head of the emergency services.

Resident Sani Umar told the local Channels Television how the fire "spread so quickly that many couldn't escape".

Many roads in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, are poorly maintained and riven with potholes, causing accidents that claim dozens of lives every year.

Last month, at least 48 people were killed in north-central Nigeria when a fuel tanker exploded after colliding with another truck carrying travelers and cattle, ensnaring other vehicles as well in the blaze.

Agencies - Xinhua