Tanker explosion kills scores on Niger highway
A tanker carrying petrol has exploded, killing unspecified number of people at Essa village in the Katcha local government area on the Bida-Agaei road in Niger State.
Penpushing reports that the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Niger State Command, Commander Aishatu Sa’adu, confirmed the incident on Tuesday in Minna, the state capital.
The resident of the area identified as Somanji in a facebook post indicated voices of some residents calling out names of loved ones suspected to be missing at the time of the incident.
“Several individuals who sustained varying degrees of injuries were rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical attention. Emergency response teams are currently on ground working to manage the situation and assist affected victims. Authorities have launched an investigation to uncover the circumstances surrounding the explosion’, Somanji wrote
Penpushing further reports that the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Niger State Command, said that the casualty figure could not be ascertained yet, however, said that officials were conducting a rescued operation at the scene of the accident.
The sector commander added that the incident caused traffic gridlock on the busy expressway, particularly due to the bad nature of the road, stating that the deplorable state of the road slowed down response for rescue operation.
Penpushing also reports that the Bida-Agaei road has been in bad shape since 2017, although the road is being reconstructed, travellers worried that the contractors are slow since they started working about five years ago.
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