Gas tanker explosion kills more than 140 people and injures dozens more in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria — More than 140 people, including children, were killed in Nigeria when an overturned gasoline tanker truck exploded in flames while they tried to scoop up fuel, emergency services said Wednesday. Dozens more were injured.

Deadly tanker accidents are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, which lacks an efficient railway system to transport cargo. People often salvage fuel with cups and buckets — especially because of soaring fuel prices, which have tripled since the government ended costly gas subsidies last year.

The latest accident occurred at midnight in northern Jigawa state's Majiya town when the tanker driver lost control on a highway, police spokesperson Lawan Adam said. Residents rushed to the scene before the “massive inferno.”

Most of the bodies were unrecognizable, emergency services said.

"Close to 140 people were put in a mass grave, apart from people buried in other places," the head of the National Emergency Management Agency in the region, Nura Abdullahi, told The Associated Press.

Most other victims were “burned to ashes” at the scene, said Dr. Haruna Mairiga, head of the Jigawa emergency services.

“If they knew (about the danger), they wouldn’t have gone to fetch (the fuel)," Mairiga said.

But resident Sani Umar told local Channels Television the fire spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape. "People were running in all directions, screaming for help," Umar said.

More than 1,500 accidents involving fuel tankers occurred in Nigeria in 2020, resulting in 535 deaths, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps. In many cases, there are no prosecutions and victims or their families are not compensated, experts say.

At least 48 people were killed in September when a fuel tanker collided with another truck in north-central Nigeria.

The latest accident revived questions about the implementation of safety measures and traffic regulations in the West African country.

Many tankers are not designed according to international best practices to avoid spillage during accidents, said Timothy Iwuagwu, president of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria. The agencies charged with enforcing safety regulations also often fail to do so, he said.

“There are also not enough awareness campaigns, (and) people are not willfully compliant” with safety measures when such accidents happen, Iwuagwu said.