Two days after scores of people were burnt to death or injured when a fallen petrol tanker exploded in Niger state, another tanker fell in Bida town of Niger state Monday.
However, Fatimah Mohammed, a resident of Bida, said the tanker was carrying groundnut oil.
“It fell around AYM Shaffa filling station yesterday,” she said, adding that residents stole huge amounts of the groundnut oil dripping from the tanker.
“People were not even afraid,” another resident, Yinusa Jiya, said. “Earlier, we thought it was petrol.”
This came two days after the deadly tanker explosion that killed about 98 people around Dikko Junction, Gurara LGA, Niger state.
The Saturday tanker explosion also injured about 55 others.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) said Sunday that 86 bodies were given a mass burial while the injured were receiving treatment in various hospitals.
Authorities have blamed citizens for the devastating loss of lives and injuries in the explosion, saying the fire was ignited by those trying to scoop fuel.
Such incidents are common in Niger state. On 8 September 2024, more than 50 travelers died in a midnight tanker explosion along the Agaie-Badeggi Road.
In 2022, another petrol-laden tanker exploded at Badeggi village near Bida. Although there were no casualties from the incident, the fire gutted two other vehicles.
Earlier in 2019, there was a fatal accident involving a petrol-laden tanker. The truck rammed into a tree and caught fire, touching other trailers carrying goods.
