A tanker truck exploded after crashing and overturned, killing 70 people who had rushed to the scene to collect fuel.
The truck, carrying 60,000 litres of fuel, crashed at around 10am on January 18 at the Dikko junction, on the road linking the capital Abuja with the northern city of Kaduna.
Kumar Tsukwam, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nigeria’s Niger state, said 70 people had died in the incident. “Most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition,” Tsukwam said.
In a separate statement from the FRSC, the agency described how “a large crowd had gathered to collect the fuel” and the tanker exploded, before the fire spread to another tanker nearby. “So far, the scene has recovered 60 bodies, most of whom were people who had gone to collect fuel,” the statement said.
Niger state Governor Umaru Bago said that in addition to the dead, many others suffered burns. Governor Bago called the explosion “worrying, heartbreaking and unfortunate”. He stressed the need for all citizens to always be “responsible and ensure their own safety”.
Last year, shortly after being elected, President Bola Tinubu abolished fuel subsidies, causing prices of essential goods to skyrocket. The sudden change led to protests across the country and concerns about fuel.
Gasoline prices in Nigeria, a country of nearly 230 million people, have increased fivefold in the past 18 months, prompting many people to risk their lives to collect fuel from overturned tankers.
In October 2024, more than 170 people were killed in a similar incident in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. In 2020, the FRSC recorded 1,531 fuel tanker accidents that killed more than 535 people.
Inflation in Nigeria has remained above 30% throughout the year. A report late last year jointly conducted by the Nigerian government, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations predicted that more than 33 million people in Nigeria could face hunger by 2025.
