Truck carrying people and cattle collides with fuel tanker in Niger state, causing deadly explosion and multiple fatalities.

A fuel tanker collided with another truck in Nigeria, resulting in an explosion that claimed the lives of at least 48 people, according to the country’s emergency response agency. The tanker, which was also transporting cattle, crashed in the Agaie area of Niger state, located in the north-central region. Abdullahi Baba-Arab, the director-general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, reported that at least 50 cattle were burned alive in the explosion.

Search-and-rescue operations were ongoing at the scene of the collision, according to Baba-Arab. Initially, the agency found 30 bodies, but later, an additional 18 victims were discovered, all of whom had been burned to death in the accident. Baba-Arab confirmed that the victims had received a mass burial.

Details on the number of people injured remained unclear in the immediate aftermath of the accident.

Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago urged residents to remain calm and advised road users to exercise caution and follow traffic regulations in order to protect lives and property.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 220 million people, has a history of frequent truck accidents on its major roads, largely due to the absence of an efficient railway system for cargo transport. Reckless driving, poor road conditions, and poorly maintained vehicles are cited as the main causes of these accidents.

In 2020, Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps recorded 1,531 petrol tanker crashes, which resulted in 535 deaths and 1,142 injuries.

Adding to the country's transportation challenges, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd recently increased the price of petrol by at least 39 percent. This marked the second major price hike in over a year, but petrol shortages persist, leading to long queues of motorists in major cities and towns across the nation.