More than 100 people have been 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, emergency services say.
The accident happened at midnight in Jigawa state’s Majiya town after the tanker driver lost control of the vehicle while travelling on a highway, local police spokesperson Lawan Adam said on Wednesday.
Ninety-seven people were “burned to ashes” at the scene while eight others died at the hospital, Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency head Haruna Mairiga told The Associated Press.
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Deadly tanker accidents are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where traffic regulations are not strictly enforced in many places and there is a lack of alternatives such as an efficient railway system to transport cargo.
It is also common for people to salvage fuel with cups and buckets to take home after such accidents. The practice has become more common amid Nigeria’s soaring fuel prices, which have tripled since the start of 2023 as Nigeria ended costly gas subsidies.
The driver involved in the latest accident had travelled about 110km from the neighbouring Kano state, police said.
Residents who heard about the accident rushed to the scene and were scooping up fuel, “sparking a massive inferno”, police spokesperson Lawan Adam said.
Videos that appeared to be from the scene showed a massive fire stretching across the entire area, with what appeared to be bodies littered at the scene.
Residents in Majiya town were in mourning on Wednesday morning as locals held a mass burial for the victims. Most of the bodies were unrecognisable, 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.
He said emergency services only arrived at the scene several hours after the accident. “But the incident had already happened … those caught up (in the fire) were burned to ashes,” Mairiga said.
In one of the videos, the person who recorded the clip appeared to try to mobilise others to help the victims. “It’s burning the body!” he shouted. “He will die … when the vehicle explodes there will be a problem.”
Resident Sani Umar told the local Channels Television how the fire “spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape”.
“People were running in all directions, screaming for help,” Umar said.
“This is a heartbreaking moment for us all,” said state police commissioner Ahmadu Abdullahi.