According to Nigerian authorities, locals were collecting fuel spilled on the road by the crashed vehicle when it blew up
More than 100 people have been killed and over 50 others injured in Nigeria’s northern Jigawa state following a gasoline tanker explosion, local media has reported, citing police in the West African nation.
The tanker crashed on the Kano-Hadejia Expressway in Majiya on Tuesday night and subsequently blew up, according to Lawan Shiisu Adam, spokesperson for Jigawa State Police Command.
Several of the victims had been attempting to collect fuel that had spilled on the road and into the drains, he said.
“The casualty figure is about 105, and the number of injured is 55 as against the 50 earlier confirmed,” Adam told the Nigerian daily PUNCH on Wednesday.
The majority of those killed have been burned beyond recognition, and a mass burial will be held later in the day, he stated.
Haruna Mairiga, head of the Jigawa State Emergency…