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Greater than 100 individuals have been killed in Nigeria after they rushed to scoop up petrol from a petroleum tanker that overturned after which caught hearth, police stated on Wednesday, because the nation’s residents wrestle with a surge in gasoline costs.
The incident was the newest deadly tanker explosion in Nigeria, the place petrol and different fuels are transported in lorries over lengthy distances and infrequently on poorly maintained roads.
The accident came about late on Tuesday within the city of Majia in northern Jigawa state, practically 600km from the capital Abuja. Lawal Shiisu Adam, the state’s police spokesperson, stated the tanker had been ferrying gasoline from Kano, the financial capital of northern Nigeria, to Yobe state through Jigawa when the driving force “misplaced management” of the tanker.
Adam stated police cordoned off the realm after the crash however have been quickly overwhelmed by a crowd who rushed to gather spilled gasoline. Movies posted on social media confirmed a fiery inferno. Scores of individuals have been additionally injured within the blast.
Gasoline costs have elevated practically fivefold over the previous yr following the federal government’s determination to cut fuel subsidies and a slide within the naira forex, which has misplaced about 70 per cent of its worth in opposition to the greenback since June.
Nigeria’s state-owned oil firm final week elevated petrol costs by greater than 15 per cent, marking the second rise in lower than a month and the formal finish of its expensive subsidy programme.
Within the absence of an environment friendly rail community to maneuver items throughout the huge nation, gasoline is often transported in tankers over lengthy distances by highway. The nation has an under-developed highway community that’s patchy in lots of areas and visitors guidelines aren’t strictly adopted or enforced.
Accidents involving gasoline transportation in Africa’s most populous nation are frequent, with Nigerians typically speeding to accident scenes to salvage gasoline in buckets and different containers from the tankers.
Final month, nearly 60 individuals died after a collision between a gasoline tanker and a truck containing passengers and cattle in north-central Niger state. Nigeria’s highway security company reported that greater than 5,000 individuals have been killed in highway crashes final yr, however the World Well being Group estimated the quantity at nearer to 40,000, arguing that many accidents aren’t reported to authorities.
Africa accounts for 19 per cent of highway visitors deaths regardless of having 15 per cent of the worldwide inhabitants and solely 3 per cent of the world’s car fleet, in accordance with WHO information.
Sani Umar, a resident who escaped the fireplace, was quoted by the native Channels TV that the episode was “terrifying”.
Umar added: “Folks have been operating in all instructions, screaming for assist. The fireplace unfold so rapidly that many couldn’t escape.”