ASHENEWS reports that 48 people were burnt to death when a tanker conveying fuel exploded along the Lapai-Agaie road.
The people were burnt beyond recognition and were buried on Sunday afternoon by humanitarian workers after the bodies were recovered from the scene of the incident.
The incident occured in the early hours of Sunday two kilometers from Dendo community along the Lapai-Agaie road in Niger state.
The Director General of the Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah who confirmed the incident said that the petrol tanker collided with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle from Wudil in Kano state which was heading to Lagos.
“Two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were also caught in the incidence. Over 30 people are already confirmed dead, with over 50 cattle burnt alive”, he said.
Arah explained that the NSEMA’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) in conjunction with LGEMCs are still on the scene of the incident conducting search and response operation as at the time of writing this report.
He further stated that there are more corpses that are still trapped inside the trucks and efforts are being made to remove them. He said that when they are finally removed, the media would be updated with the final figure of those who died in the incident.
This is coming barely 24 hours after a petrol laden tanker exploded and got burnt along the Ibadan-Ife expressway.
Two articulated trucks, one 18-seater bus, two small cabs, one tricycle and three motorcycles were completely burnt in the incident. But no no life was lost in the incident.
