A devastating petrol tanker explosion claimed the lives of 48 people on Sunday along the Bida-Agaie-Lapai road in Niger State.
Alhaji Abdullah-Baba Arah, Director-General of the Niger Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed the tragic incident in a statement from Minna.
According to Baba-Arah, the explosion occurred at around 12:30 am, just two kilometers from Dendo community in Agaie Local Government Area. The disaster unfolded when a petrol tanker carrying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) collided with a trailer truck transporting travelers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State to Lagos.
The collision sparked a chain reaction involving two additional vehicles: a crane truck and a pickup van. The accident resulted in over 30 fatalities, with more than 50 cattle also perishing in the blaze.
Baba-Arah reported that NEMA’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Local Emergency Management Committees (LGEMCs) were still on-site, conducting ongoing search and rescue operations as several bodies remained trapped in the vehicles.
