Tragedy struck on Sunday when a petrol tanker exploded along the Bida-Agaie-Lapai road in Niger, resulting in the loss of 48 lives.
Director-General of the Niger Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Abdullah-Baba-Arah, who confirmed this in a statement on Sunday, said the agency received a report of the deadly explosion at approximately 12:30 am on Sunday.
The NEMA DG said the disaster occurred two kilometers away from the Dendo community in Agaie Local Government Area, along the Bida-Agaie-Lapai highway.”
He said the incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with petrol (PMS) collided with a trailer truck loaded with travelers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State en route Lagos.
Baba-Arah said two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were also involved in the multiple incident.
He disclosed that over 30 people have been confirmed dead, with over 50 cattle burnt alive.
The director-general said the agency’s ‘Rapid Respond Team (RRT) and other ‘Local Emergency Management Committees (LGEMCs)’ were still at the scene of the incident.
He said that they were conducting search and rescue operations as more corpses were still trapped inside the ill-fated trucks. (NAN)
