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Latest Nigeria petrol tanker accident kills 18

Africa

By AFP | Jan 26, 2025

**Firefighters extinguish fire from a tanker that exploded in Suleja, Nigeria, Jan. 18, 2025.**[AFP]

Eighteen people were killed in a truck accident in south-eastern Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday, a week after a petrol tanker explosion left at least 98 dead.

"A total of 31 people were involved in the crash, said the FRSC road safety authority following the accident near the town of Enugu.

"Ten were rescued with different degrees of injuries while three got rescued unharmed."

The FRSC said that those killed had been burnt "beyond recognition".

"The tanker, which was loaded with premium motor spirit, experienced break failure and the driver lost grip of the wheels before crashing" into 17 other vehicles, sparking a fire, the FRSC added.

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Peter Mbah, Enugu state governor, said he had urged the FRSC to enforce rules banning tankers not equipped with an anti-spill lock.

On January 18, 98 people were killed in an explosion after rushing to gather fuel when a petrol tanker truck was involved in an accident.

The blast on the road linking the federal capital Abuja to the northern city of Kaduna also injured 69 people.

The truck had been carrying 60,000 litres (nearly 16,000 gallons) of gasoline.

Those killed and injured had rushed to the scene in search of fuel, whose price has soared in an economic crisis affecting Africa's most populous country with inflation topping 30 percent over the past year.

The price rises are in part down to economic reforms, including the ending of a costly fuel subsidy, enacted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

With petrol prices rising fivefold in 18 months -- despite the country being Africa's largest oil producer -- some Nigerians have become willing to risk their lives to collect fuel from vehicles involved in road accidents.