Reports indicate that over 150 individuals, including children, lost their lives and many others sustained injuries following a tragic incident involving an overturned fuel tanker that exploded in northwestern Nigeria.
The incident occurred on a busy expressway in Jigawa State, where individuals rushed to the scene to collect spilled fuel from the tanker, as stated by police spokesperson Lawan Shiisu Adam.
Tragically, fatal tanker accidents are a frequent occurrence in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, due to the lack of an efficient railway system for transporting goods.
In light of the escalating fuel prices, which have significantly risen since the government discontinued costly gas subsidies last year, individuals often resort to salvaging fuel using cups and buckets.
This recent tragedy unfolded late on Tuesday night in Majiya town, when the driver lost control of the tanker on the highway, leading to a massive explosion, according to Adam’s statement on Wednesday. Residents quickly responded before the flames engulfed the area.
Unfortunately, emergency responders reported that the majority of the victims were so badly burnt that their remains were unidentifiable.
During mass burials held on Wednesday and Thursday, Dr. Haruna Mairiga, the head of Jigawa emergency services, revealed that most of the deceased were reduced to ashes at the site of the accident.
Statistics from Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps show that there were over 1,500 fuel tanker accidents in the country in 2020, resulting in 535 fatalities.
In a separate incident last September, 48 individuals lost their lives when a fuel tanker collided with another truck in north-central Nigeria.
This latest tragedy has once again raised concerns about the enforcement of safety protocols and traffic regulations within the nation.
