Deadly Petrol Tanker Explosion In Niger State Kills 48 People, 50 Cows

A petrol tanker explosion on the Bida-Agaie-Lapai road in Niger State led to the death of 48 people and 50 cows on Sunday.

Director-general of Niger Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Abdullah Baba-Arah revealed that the explosion happened around 12:30 a.m., two kilometers from the Dendo community in Agaie Local Government Area.

"The incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS collided with a truck loaded with travelers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State heading to Lagos, two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van, were also caught in the incident," Baba-Arah said, Punch reported. "Over 30 people are already confirmed dead, with over 50 cattle burnt."

The director-general said that the agency's Rapid Response Team (RRT) and other Local Emergency Management Committees (LGEMCs) are still at the scene of the incident.

"NSEMA's Rapid Respond Team, in conjunction with the LGEMCs, is still on the scene of the incident conducting a search and rescue operation as more corpses are still trapped inside the trucks."

Initially, only 30 bodies were found, but after further search and rescue operations, the agency recovered 18 more bodies. Baba-Arah noted that the tragic incident led to the burning of 48 people beyond recognition, hence a mass burial will be done.

This is not the first time people have died in a road accident in Nigeria. Road accidents are not unusual in Nigeria due to several reasons, including rash driving, poor road conditions, poorly maintained vehicles and inadequate traffic laws.

Last year, at least 11 people died in a road accident after two vehicles had a collision in Jigawa State.

A Honda saloon, driven by a man named Abdullahi Muhammad, had five passengers, while the Golf wagon, driven by a man named Safiyanu Mamu, had four passengers. A total of 11 people died in the crash, including the drivers.

In another incident, at least 16 people died in an accident on the Kaduna-Abuja expressway after an overloaded DAF truck lost control and fell into a ditch. The vehicle was reportedly coming at a high speed.

A separate incident took place in Niger state, where at least 17 people died, and 229 people were injured after a truck overloaded with food and people crashed.