No fewer than 30 persons have been confirmed dead in a petrol tanker explosion Sunday at Agaie Local Government area in Niger State.
The petrol tanker was said to have been involved in a head-on collision with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle from wudil in Kano state.
The Director General of the Niger state Emergency Management Agency, NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arab noted that the incident happened on Sunday at about 12.30 am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from Dendo Community in Agaie LGA.
Baba-Arab said over 50 cattle were also burnt alive and two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were caught in the inferno.
The NSEMA statements read: “NSEMA has received a report of a deadly tanker explosion that occurred on Sunday, the 8th of September, 2024, at about 12.30 am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from Dendo Community in Agaie LGA.
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“The incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS collided with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State heading to Lagos, two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were also caught in the incident.
“Over 30 people are already confirmed dead, with over 50 cattle burnt alive. NSEMA’s Rapid Respond Team, in conjunction with LGEMCs, is still on scene of the incidence conducting search and rescue operations as more corpses are still trapped inside the trucks,” the statement read.
Recall that on Saturday, four vehicles and several houses were burnt as petrol-loaded trucks caught fire at Ajia, along the Ibadan-Ife road.
The affected vehicles included a petrol-loaded truck, an 18-passenger bus, another mid-sized truck, and a Micra taxi.
The accident, which occurred at the Ajia Circular Road end in Egbeda Local Government Area, caused a traffic gridlock on the highway.
Motorists and commuters were stranded for several hours as the Federal Fire Service, in conjunction with security agencies, worked to bring the situation under control.
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