48 passengers, 50 cows killed in Niger tanker fire

Forty-eight persons confirmed dead in the petrol tanker explosion on Sunday were given a mass burial in the Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday when the petrol tanker had a head-on collision with a truck loaded with travellers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State.

The Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba-Arab, who gave the update, also confirmed that the 48 persons were burnt beyond recognition necessitating the mass burial in the local government.

According to him, following further search and rescue operations, 18 more bodies were recovered from the 30 bodies earlier reported.

“Following further search and rescue operation, my agency discovered 18 more bodies which were also burnt to death and all the dead have been given a mass burial,” he said.

Baba-Arab disclosed this in a statement where he asserted that the incident happened at about 12.30 am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from the Dendo community in Agaie LGA.

He also said over 50 cattle were burnt, and a crane truck and a pickup van were caught up in the inferno.

The statement read, “NSEMA has received a report of a deadly tanker explosion that occurred on Sunday, September 8, 2024, at about 12.30 am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from Dendo Community in Agaie LGA.

“The incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS collided with a 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. NSEMA’s Rapid Respond Team, in conjunction with the LGEMCs, is still on the scene of the incident conducting a search and rescue operation as more corpses are still trapped inside the trucks.”