At least 94 people were killed and 50 injured after a petrol tanker crashed and detonated late on Tuesday in Jigawa state, northern Nigeria, according to a police spokeswoman on Wednesday. The driver had lost control of the vehicle.
According to a spokesman for the Jigawa State Police Command, Lawan Shiisu Adam, the event happened in Majia town in the Taura local government area, some 530 kilometers (329.33 miles) north of the capital Abuja, by telephone with Reuters.
Locals who had gathered to retrieve fuel from the tanker following its crash were among the casualties. According to Adam, the injured were brought to nearby hospitals in the towns of Ringim and Hadejia, where they received medical attention.
Later in the day, he continued, there would be a mass burial for the deceased.
