At least 86 people were killed in Nigeria on Saturday when a fuel tanker truck exploded on the main road between the capital Abuja and the city of Kaduna.
The accident occurred when the truck carrying 60,000 liters of gasoline transferred its contents to another tanker and a traffic accident led to contact between the gasoline and an electric generator, triggering a fire that killed and injured many people, according to the Nigerian Emergency Agency.
Kumar Tsokwam, spokesman for the Federal Road Safety Authority in Niger State, said most of the victims were residents who had gathered to collect fuel after the tanker overturned.
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Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, experienced a similar incident last October, when 170 people were killed in a fuel tanker explosion in Jigawa state.
The Federal Highway Safety Commission recorded 1,531 fuel truck accidents in 2020, killing 535 people.
The price of fuel in Nigeria has quintupled since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed subsidies in 2023.
