ABUJA: Eight people were burned to death after a tanker exploded in Nigeria’s southern Ondo state, the road safety agency said on Monday.
The tanker was carrying gasoline and exploded while the victims were trying to extract the much sought-after fuel, according to Ezekiel Sonallah, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ondo.
Sonallah said the driver lost control of the tanker on Sunday and veered off the road and crashed in Ondo’s Odigbo district. Both the driver and his assistant escaped unscathed. He said that the “problem was the scooping,” hinting it was the reason for the explosion.
Authorities said all the victims were burned beyond recognition and couldn’t be identified.
Scooping fuel from tanker accident scenes has often resulted in deaths in parts of Nigeria. It has continued this year with the price of gasoline more than doubling since June 1 after the West African nation's new President Bola Tinubu ended the decades-long gasoline.
Fatal truck accidents are also common along most major roads in southern Nigeria. In January, 20 people were killed in two truck accidents in the southwest while 12 died in similar circumstances there in November.
Traffic regulations have been difficult to enforce and authorities are now seeking stricter penalties for offenders, said Sonallah.