By Uche Onyeali
No fewer than 30 people reportedly lost their lives in a petrol tanker explosion in Niger State.
The incident occurred on Sunday, around 12:30am at Dendo community in Agaie Local Government Area.
Director-General of Niger State Emergency Management Agency, NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arab, in a statement, said the tanker was involved in a head-on collision with a trailer loaded with cattle.
Baba-Arab said two other vehicles, a crane truck and a pickup van were also caught in the explosion.
“NSEMA has received report of a deadly tanker explosion that occurred on Sunday, September 8, at about 12.30am along Lapai-Agaie, 2km from Dendo Community in Agaie Local Government Area.
“The incident occurred when a petrol tanker loaded with PMS collided with a trailer 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 Response Team, RRT, in conjunction with LGEMCs, is still at the scene of the incident conducting search and rescue operations as more corpses are still trapped inside the trucks,” the NSEMA boss said.
