At least 50 people have been killed in central Nigeria’s Niger state after a fuel tanker collided with a truck carrying passengers and livestock, Nigeria’s disaster agency said.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency said the collision occurred at around 00:30 local time on Sunday (23:30 GMT Saturday) and caused an explosion that engulfed both vehicles.
The agency’s director general, Abdullahi Baba-arah, said response teams had been dispatched to the scene to manage the situation.
Several other vehicles were also caught up in the explosion.
Footage taken at the scene shortly after the incident showed two vehicles completely burnt out, as well as a number of dead livestock.
Speaking to Reuters news agency after the incident, an emergency worker said they were trying to collect bodies as well as dead animals still inside the vehicle.
Emergency services spokesman Hussain Ibrahim told the BBC that funerals for the victims took place on Sunday.
“Yesterday, we buried 52 people in a mass grave and eight people are being treated in hospital,” he said.
“This is certainly the worst accident we have had in many years.”
He added that the Niger state government would pay the medical bills of the injured.
Governor Umaru Bago said he was “deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident” in a message of condolence to the families of the victims.
Fuel tanker explosions and accidents are common in Nigeria, partly due to poor road conditions.
