48 victims of Niger petrol tanker explosion get mass burial

48 persons have been given mass burial after a petrol tanker explosion in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State.

The incident occurred in the early morning of Sunday when the petrol tanker had a head-on collision with a trailer 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 on Sunday, also confirmed that the 48 persons whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition had been given 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 operations, my agency discovered 18 more bodies which were also burnt to death and all the dead have been given mass burial,” he said.

Baba-Arab made the accident known on Sunday in a statement in which he said the incident happened on Sunday at about 12.30 am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from Dendo Community in Agaie LG.

He also disclosed that over 50 cattle were also burnt alive and two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were caught in the inferno.

The NSEMA statements read, “NSEMA has received a report of a deadly tanker explosion that occurred on Sunday, the 8th of September, 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 trailer 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 alive. NSEMA’s Rapid Respond Team (RRT), in conjunction with LGEMCs, is still on the scene of the incident conducting search and rescue operations as more corpses are still trapped inside the trucks.”