Fuel tanker truck explosion kills more than 140 people in Nigeria

Johannesburg — More than 140 people were killed and dozens more injured Tuesday night when a fuel tanker crashed and then exploded in Nigeria, local officials said. A police spokesperson said the driver lost control of the vehicle in Majiya town, near the northern city of Kano.

A mass burial was held for the victims of the accident on Wednesday morning, and Nura Abdullahi, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency, told the French news agency AFP that "more than 140" people were placed in a mass grave. He said the toll would likely rise further.

The injured were being treated at the Ringim General Hospital, not far from the crash site.

Eyewitnesses said the casualty figures were so high because, as often happens at accident scenes involving fuel trucks, locals arrived quickly in hopes of taking some of the spilled fuel.

"The residents were scooping up fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, sparking a massive inferno," police spokesperson Lawan Adam told The Associated Press.

Last month, 48 people were killed when a fuel tanker collided with a truck loaded with people and cattle. Both people and cattle were burned alive in the disaster.

Truck accidents are common in Nigeria, often blamed on the poor state of the country's roads.

The World Health Organization, in a 2018 report, estimated the number of road accident deaths in the country at roughly 40,000 per year.

Nigerians have faced a cost-of-living crisis since a national fuel subsidy was scrapped in May 2023, causing prices to surge. In 2022, roughly 40% of the country's revenue was spent on fuel subsidies for residents.

Economists have said Nigeria is suffering its worst economic crisis in a generation, with the second huge fuel price increase in a month kicking in just last week.

President Bola Timbu was elected last year on promises of stimulating the economy and attracting foreign investment.