More than 140 people have been killed and dozens injured as they rushed to scoop up fuel when a petrol tanker overturned and then exploded.
A mass burial for the victims has been held in Majia, a town in the Taura area of northern Jigawa state, after the crash there late on Tuesday night.
The driver lost control on a highway according to police spokesman Lawan Adam.
“The residents were scooping up fuel from the overturned tanker when the explosion occurred, sparking a massive inferno,” he said.
“Close to 140 people were put in a mass grave apart from people buried in other places,” said Nura Abdullahi, head of the National Emergency Management Agency in the region.
Initial figures reported 97 people had been “burned to ashes” at the scene, according to the head of Jigawa state’s emergency management agency Dr Haruna Mairiga. A further eight people died in hospital.
“If they knew [about the danger], they wouldn’t have gone to fetch [the fuel],” said Dr Mairiga, adding that it took several hours for emergency services to arrive.
Video showed a huge fire and what appeared to be burning bodies strewn around the site.
Local resident Sani Umar described how the fire “spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape”, adding: “People were running in all directions, screaming for help”.
Using buckets and cups to scavenge fuel has become more widespread amid a surge in prices in Africa’s most populous country.
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Those injured were taken to hospitals in Ringim and Hadejia towns, said state police official Lawan Shiisu.
Tanker accidents are common in Nigeria, where most cargo is moved by road due to a lack of an efficient rail system and where traffic rules are loosely enforced in many places.
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Police said the driver in Tuesday’s incident had travelled about 68 miles (110km) from neighbouring Kano state.
