At least 60 people were killed and more injured in northern Nigeria on Saturday when a fuel tanker truck overturned and spilled the cargo, which exploded, the Federal Road Safety Corps said.
The accident in Niger state follows a similar blast in Jigawa state in October that killed 147 people, one of the worst such tragedies in Africa’s most-populous nation.
Kumar Tsukwam, FRSC sector commander for Niger state, said most of the victims were impoverished residents who had rushed to scoop up the spilled gasoline after the truck overturned.
“Large crowds of people gathered to scoop fuel despite concerted efforts to stop them,” Tsukwam said in a statement.
“Suddenly, the tanker burst into flames, engulfing another tanker. So far 60 corpses [have been] recovered from the scene.”
Tsukwam said firefighters put out the blaze.
Such accidents have become common in Africa’s largest oil producer, killing dozens of people in the country grappling with its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
The price of fuel in Nigeria has soared more than 400% since President Bola Tinubu scrapped a decades-old subsidy when he took office in May 2023.
