Victims of the petrol tanker explosion, which occurred on Sunday in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State, have been given a mass burial.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba-Arab, who gave the update on Sunday, said 48 persons whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition had been given mass burial in the local government.
According to him, during rescue operations, emergency responders discovered 18 more bodies after the initial 30 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.
It would be recalled that no fewer than thirty (30) people died in a tragic explosion involving a fuel tanker on the Agaie-Bida Road in Niger State on Sunday morning.
The tanker collided with a trailer transporting cattle en route to Lagos State from Wudil, Kano State.
According to Baba-Arab who made the accident known, 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.”
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