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dpatopbilder - Firefighters extinguish the fire of a gasoline tanker that exploded in Suleja. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), many people have been killed after a petrol tanker truck exploded in Nigeria. Photo: Arise News/AP/dpa
Keystone
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), more than 70 people have been killed after a petrol tanker truck exploded in Nigeria. At least 56 other people were injured, it said. The driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle on a highway near the town of Diko in Niger State, according to the agency.
Most of the victims were trying to siphon off the fuel leaking from the tanker when the vehicle caught fire and exploded. Surrounding stores and houses were engulfed by the flames and destroyed. A spokesman for NEMA called the incident "a tragedy".
Such accidents occur more frequently in Nigeria. In October, at least 140 people died in a tanker truck explosion. Back then, too, people had tried to siphon off leaking petrol after a traffic accident.
Most of the people in the north of Africa's most populous country with around 220 million inhabitants live in deep poverty. Despite its abundance of crude oil, Nigeria regularly experiences fuel shortages.
18.01.2025, 21:18
