How 30 Perished In Niger State Tanker Explosion, 50 Cattle Too

By Ayodele Oni

It was a bloody Sunday in Niger State as a tanker explosion in the Agaie Local Government Area of the State led to the death of over 30 people and the burning of 50 cattle.

The explosion took place around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday along the Lapai-Agaie road, approximately two kilometers from the Dendo community in Agaie.

It was learnt that 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 traveling on the road were also caught when the PMS loaded tanker exploded

The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, confirmed the incident, adding that the NSEMA Rapid Response Team responded to the call after the explosion, adding that 30 bodies had been recovered from the truck and confirmed dead.

Arah said that his team were still at the scene of the incident and was still conducting search and response operations as there were more bodies trapped inside the trucks.