AFP :
A fuel tanker exploded after colliding with a truck carrying passengers and cattle in northern Nigeria, killing at least 59 people, a rescue agency said on Monday
Photographs released by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency or SEMA showed workers burying more than a dozen blackened and charred bodies of victims from Sunday’s early morning incident.
Images showed burned-out shells of the vehicles, one still billowing with smoke and flames after the incident in Niger’s Agaie local government district.
Ibrahim Husseini, spokesman for the Niger SEMA, told AFP the number of fatalities had risen to 59 on Monday from an initial toll of 52, when more victims were discovered in the wreckage and one of the injured died.
On Sunday, most of the victims were given a mass burial.
“It is possible that more dead bodies could be discovered,” Husseini said in a text message.
The explosion happened after a petrol tanker loaded with PMS (fuel) collided with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle, according to SEMA.
Two other vehicles, a crane and a pickup truck, were also involved, it added.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago expressed sadness over the “colossal” loss, urging local residents to remain calm.
More than 50 cattle were also burnt alive.
Fuel tanker explosions are common in Africa’s most populous nation, where roads can be poorly maintained, and residents often look to siphon off fuel following accidents.
According to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), more than 5,000 people died in road accidents in Nigeria in 2023, compared to nearly 6,500 the previous year.
But according to the World Health Organization, the figures do not take into account accidents not reported to the authorities.
It estimates annual road accident deaths in Nigeria to be nearly 40,000, in a report published last year.