A fuel tanker explosion has left 70 people dead in central Nigeria. The accident happened on Saturday when a tanker carrying 60,000 liters of gasoline overturned and exploded, causing a deadly fire. Many of the victims had gathered to scavenge the spilled fuel, a dangerous practice that led to their untimely deaths.
The deadly crash occurred at about 10 a.m. on the Dikko junction, along the highly congested road stretching from Nigeria’s federal capital, Abuja, to the northern city of Kaduna. Kumar Tsukwam, the FRSC head in Niger State, confirmed that the overturned fuel tanker had exploded. According to him, most of the victims have been burnt beyond recognition.
According to further information from the FRSC, a large crowd had assembled to collect the spilled fuel when the tanker suddenly caught fire. The flames engulfed another nearby tanker, thus amplifying the scale of the disaster. As of reporting, 60 bodies had been recovered from the scene. The majority of the victims were reportedly scavengers who often risk their lives in such incidents to collect fuel.
Rising Risk Of Fuel Tanker Accidents In Nigeria
The explosive accident is the latest in a line of similar incidents in Nigeria, where accidents involving fuel tankers have become all too common. Again, the fiasco has highlighted the issue of fuel subsidies that has been battering the country for a long time, leading to its insensitive increase of fuel prices.
In 2023, President Bola Tinubu abolished the country’s fuel subsidy, thus catapulting the price of gasoline and other essential goods. The price of gasoline has skyrocketed fivefold in 18 months alone, forcing people to take a very dangerous shortcut to get around – scavenging fuel from overturned tankers.
Despite stern warnings about the dangers, fuel scavenging after accidents persists in Africa’s most populous nation, where economic necessity often compels people to risk life and limb.
Niger State’s Governor Umaru Bago said he was taken aback and saddened by the explosion. He stated, “It is rather worrisome, heartbreaking, and unfortunate.” The governor confirmed that several people experienced burning wounds from the explosion while he did not disclose how many were burned but said several were burned.
There were more than 170 deaths resulting from a similar explosion in the north in northern Nigeria’s Jigawa State in October of 2023. The FRSC reported no fewer than 1,531 fuel tanker accidents in 2020 alone that resulted in the death of more than 535 people, evidencing systemic risks associated with this kind of ad-hoc, unregulated fuel delivery in the country.
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