ABUJA — At least 94 people were killed in northern Nigeria when a crashed tanker exploded near locals who had gathered to retrieve fuel, police said.
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.
The tanker had veered to avoid colliding with a truck in the town of Majia, the spokesman said.
Following the crash, residents crowded around the vehicle, which likely increased the number of casualties, he added.
Adam said at least 50 people were seriously injured, adding that the death toll was provisional.
“The residents were scooping up fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, sparking a massive inferno that killed 94 people on the spot,” Adam told the Associated Press news agency.
Videos that appeared to be from the scene showed a massive fire stretching across the entire area, with what appeared to be bodies littered at the scene.
The fire burned into the early hours of Wednesday.
The wounded were taken to local hospitals in Ringim and Hadejia towns where they were being treated, Adam said.
Deadly truck accidents are common along most of the main roads in Nigeria, with experts attributing many of them to reckless driving, poor road conditions and ill-maintained vehicles. — Agencies