No fewer than 48 people have been confirmed dead in a petrol tanker explosion in the Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State.
According to reports, the petrol tanker collided head-on with a trailer truck carrying travellers and cattle from Wudil, Kano State.
Abdullahi Baba-Arab, Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed this in a statement on Sunday.
He stated that the incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, along the Lapai-Agaie route, around 2 kilometres from Dendo Community in Agaie LGA.
According to Baba-Arab, more than 50 livestock were burnt alive, and two more vehicles—a crane truck and a pickup van—were involved in the incident.
The NSEMA statement read, “NSEMA has received a report of a deadly tanker explosion that occurred on Sunday, 8th September 2024, at about 12:30 am along Lapai-Agaie road, 2 km from Dendo Community in Agaie LGA.
“The incident happened when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS collided with a trailer truck carrying travellers and cattle from Wudil, Kano State, heading to Lagos. Two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van, were also involved in the incident.
“Over 30 people have already been confirmed dead, with more than 50 cattle burnt alive. NSEMA’s Rapid Response Team (RRT), in conjunction with LGEMCs, is still at the scene conducting search and rescue operations as more bodies remain trapped inside the vehicles,” the statement read.
