A tragic explosion in north-central Nigeria has claimed the lives of at least 70 people after a gasoline tanker crashed early Saturday morning. The explosion occurred when locals, who had rushed to collect the spilled fuel from the overturned tanker, attempted to transfer it into another truck using a generator, eyewitnesses reported.
According to Abdulazeez, a local witness, the explosion occurred shortly after the generator was started. “They finished scooping the fuel and brought a generator to use to transfer the fuel into another truck. And when they started the generator, the explosion happened,” he said. Most of the victims were severely burned, with many unable to be identified due to the intensity of the fire, as confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Corps.
This incident is not an isolated one. In Nigeria, road accidents involving trucks carrying hazardous materials are common, especially given the absence of a robust railway system for cargo transportation. The lack of proper infrastructure, combined with the rising cost of fuel, has led to an increase in such accidents. Petrol prices surged by over 400% in May 2023 when President Bola Tinubu removed the long-standing fuel subsidy, forcing many people to risk their lives collecting fuel from crashed tanker trucks.

A similar incident occurred in October of the previous year in Jigawa State, where more than 170 people died following a similar tanker explosion.
The Nigerian government continues to face challenges in curbing these dangerous practices, which result in significant loss of life.