Tanker explosion kills many on Niger highway
A tanker carrying petrol has exploded at a village on the Bida-Agaei road in Niger State, killing an unspecified number of people.
The accident, according to a Facebook post by one Muhammad Somanji, occured in Essa in the Katcha LGA.
“Several individuals who sustained varying degrees of injuries were rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention,” Mr Somanji wrote. “Emergency response teams are currently on ground working to manage the situation and assist affected victims.”
He added that “authorities have launched an investigation to uncover the circumstances surrounding the explosion.”
In a video Mr Somanji uploaded, residents could be heard calling out names of loved ones suspected to be missing at the time of the incident.
Fire service confirms incident
The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Niger State Command, Aishatu Sa’adu, confirmed the incident in Minna on Tuesday, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Ms Sa’adu said that the casualty figure could not be ascertained yet.
She, however, said that her officials were conducting a rescued operation at the scene of the accident.
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Ms Sa’adu said the incident caused traffic gridlock on the busy expressway, particularly due to the bad nature of the road.
The Bida-Agaei road has been in bad shape since 2017. Although the road is being reconstructed, travellers worried that the contractors are slow since they started working about five years ago.
According to Ms Sa’adu, the deplorable state of the road slowed down response for rescue operation.
Details later…