Death toll rises to 170 from Nigeria fuel tanker explosion

A fuel tanker explosion in Nigeria’s northern state of Jigawa has killed more than 170 people, with a further 70 receiving intensive care in hospital, police said on Friday. The accident is one of the worst in recent times in Africa’s most populous nation, which is battling with widespread security threats and a cost of living crisis.

A blast tore through crowds who had rushed to collect fuel spilling from a crashed tanker in the town of Majiya in Jigawa state late on Tuesday. “At the Federal Medical Centers in Azare, Nguru, and Birnin Kudu, 70 people were receiving intensive care,” said spokesman Deputy Superintendent of Police Lawan Shiisu Adam in a statement, with the death toll rising to 170.

Other hospitals were also treating victims for injuries, he added.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest country faces an escalating petrol crisis, exacerbated by its worst economic downturn in a generation. The fuel’s price has surged more than fivefold since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, leaving many struggling to access gasoline.

Inflation in the country has been peaking at more than 30 percent for months, reaching an almost three-decade high of 34.19 percent in June, down to 32.7 percent in September.

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More than half – 56 percent – of Nigerians are living under the poverty line, up from 40 percent in 2018, according to a World Bank report published Thursday.

At least 59 people died last month in the country when a fuel tanker collided with a truck carrying passengers and cattle in northwestern Niger state.