CNN
At least 105 people have been killed and 70 left injured in northern Nigeria after a crashed tanker exploded near locals who had gathered to retrieve fuel on Tuesday, police told CNN.
The toll is expected to rise from the blast, which happened late evening local time on Tuesday in Majiya, a village in Jigawa state.
“The driver lost control and the tanker somersaulted and spilled fuel into a drainage ditch,” Jigawa police spokesperson Shiisu Lawan Adam said.
“As a result, residents rushed to scoop the fuel when the explosion happened.”
The blast comes a month after at least 48 people were killed in a similar accident in the north-central Niger state.
Fuel tanker explosions are not unusual in Africa’s most populous country, where oil supplies are frequently dispatched by road.
Previous fires have led to multiple casualties. In 2020, more than 500 people lost their lives in more than 1,500 fuel tanker accidents recorded that year, according to Nigeria’s road safety agency.
