By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABUJA (Worthy News) – Residents in northern Nigeria were grieving Thursday after authorities confirmed that more than 140 people, including children, were killed when an overturned gasoline tanker truck exploded in flames while they tried to scoop up fuel.
Most of the bodies were unrecognizable, emergency services said, adding that dozens of people more were injured.
Witnesses said the accident occurred around midnight in northern Jigawa state’s Majiya town when the tanker driver lost control on a highway. Police spokesperson Lawan Adam said locals rushed to the scene before the “massive inferno” that quickly burned many people.
“Close to 140 people were put in a mass grave, apart from people buried in other places,” the head of the National Emergency Management Agency in the region, Nura Abdullahi, said.
Resident Sani Umar told local Channels Television the fire spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape. “People were running in all directions, screaming for help,” Umar recalled.
But by that time, it was too late for many. Most of the victims were “burned to ashes” at the scene, added Dr. Haruna Mairiga, head of the Jigawa emergency services. “If they knew [about the danger], they wouldn’t have gone to fetch [the fuel], Mairiga concluded.
MORE DEATHS
The Nigerian Medical Association urged doctors to rush to nearby emergency rooms to help with the influx of patients.
It was the latest tragedy in northern Nigeria, which also suffers from anti-Christian violence that has killed thousands of people every year.
Several deadly tanker accidents have occurred in Nigeria as Africa’s most populous country lacks an efficient railway system for transporting cargo.
Observers noted that petrol has become a precious commodity during Nigeria’s worst economic crisis in a generation.
In a nation marred by poverty, people often salvage fuel with cups and buckets — mainly because of soaring fuel prices, which have tripled since the government ended costly gas subsidies last year.
More than 1,500 accidents involving fuel tankers occurred in Nigeria in 2020, resulting in 535 deaths, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps. In many cases, there are no prosecutions, and victims or their families are not compensated, experts say.
TANKER COLLIDES
At least 48 people were killed in September when a fuel tanker collided with another truck in north-central Nigeria.
Yet the latest accident revived questions about implementing safety measures and traffic regulations in West Africa.
In a statement, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima called for a safety review and said the federal government was sending resources to support those affected.
Many tankers are not designed according to international standards to avoid spillage during accidents, explained Timothy Iwuagwu, president of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria.
He complained that the agencies charged with enforcing safety regulations also often fail to do so.
“There are also not enough awareness campaigns, [and] people are not willfully compliant” with safety measures when such accidents happen, Iwuagwu stressed.
Yet, with new questions raised, Nigerian lawmakers observed a minute’s silence in the Senate, commemorating the victims of yet another tragedy in this troubled land.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has met victims’ families and survivors of Australia’s worst-ever terrorist and antisemitic attack that killed more than a dozen people, amid mounting tensions between the two nations.
Efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza are moving forward according to plan, despite tensions surrounding the ceasefire, a senior official involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative told Ynet in an exclusive report Wednesday.
As diplomatic talks continue between Washington and Tehran, new reports from inside Iran describe intensifying repression and widespread fear among ordinary citizens.
U.S. President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for nearly three hours Wednesday, with both leaders confirming that negotiations with Iran remain ongoing but no final agreement has been reached.
The Pentagon has instructed a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for potential deployment to the Middle East as the United States increases military readiness in response to rising tensions with Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities in the U.S. state of Arizona detained a suspect Tuesday in connection with the reported abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of American television host Savannah Guthrie, as the high-profile investigation entered its ninth day.
Nine people were killed Tuesday in a mass shooting in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, and at least 27 others were injured, authorities confirmed late Tuesday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Canada in recent years.