Tanker truck explodes, kills more than 140 in Nigeria

A crowd gathered around the overturned vehicle to collect fuel.

More than 140 people died in northern Nigeria after the explosion on Tuesday of an overturned tanker around which a crowd was gathered, according to a latest report given Wednesday October 16 by emergency services. Witnesses described to AFP a “horror scene”recounting having heard a “huge detonation” then saw “people on fire” Who “ran and screamed”.

The truck carrying gasoline swerved to avoid colliding with another truck in the locality of Majiya, Jigawa State. After the accident, residents flocked around the vehicle to collect the fuel that had spilled onto the road and shoulders.

The police who tried to disperse them were pushed back by the crowd, explained Lawan Shiisu Adam, a police spokesperson. That’s when the explosion took place, he added.