Nigeria’s emergency agency said the death toll from a weekend gasoline tanker explosion in north central Niger state has risen to 86. Explosions that kill dozens who converge on crashed tanker trucks to scoop up spilled fuel have been common for years in Nigeria, and the problem is only becoming worse.
The National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA, said about 50 people sustained burns in Saturday’s tanker explosion in central Nigeria, in addition to those killed.
The victims are currently receiving treatment at local hospitals.
The 60,000-liter fuel tanker crashed in central Niger State, near Abuja, spilling its contents.
Officials said locals rushed to the scene with generators to siphon fuel from the tanker, triggering the explosion.
“A mass burial has been conducted where the people that died at the scene of the incident have been put to rest,” said Manzo Ezekiel, NEMA spokesperson, adding that the injured were taking to various primary and secondary medical facilities.
At least three times in recent months, tanker explosions in Nigeria have caused dozens of deaths.
A similar incident to Saturday’s killed 170 people in northern Jigawa State in October.
In September, another 48 people died trying to scoop up fuel after a tanker collided with a truck full of cattle in Niger state.
The problem starts with frequent road accidents involving the tankers. According to Nigeria’s Road Safety Corps, there were about 1,500 tanker accidents in 2020.
The Petrol Tanker Drivers Association blames the frequency of these crashes on poor road conditions and a lack of enforcement of road safety measures, including speed and load limits.
When the tankers crash, locals quickly move in, hoping to take away some fuel before police arrive.
“I’m a tanker driver, I know how it is. The roads are bad,” said Augustine Egbon, chairman of the Petrol Tanker Drivers Association. “Secondly, my advice to everybody is that as soon as tanker has an accident nobody should go there because sometimes when tanker falls it will take almost two or three hours, it’s when people start going there that’s where the fire will start.”
Nigeria has an aging 5,000-kilometer-long oil pipeline but most of the 50 million liters of gasoline consumed here daily are transported by roads to pumps.
Authorities have pledged to address the issue and enforce stricter regulations.
The recent surge in gasoline prices — rising fivefold since President Bola Tinubu scrapped fuel subsidies in May 2023 — has driven many to risk their lives to retrieve fuel during accidents.
The locals often use or sell the fuel they collect from crash sites.
