|
70 die as tanker catches alight
28/03/2007 12:18 - (SA)
Abuja - More than 70 Nigerians were
burnt to death when a tanker truck caught fire while they were
gathering fuel that was spilling out of it, police in northern
Kaduna state said on Wednesday.
Crowds of local villagers had gathered with buckets and
jerry cans after the truck carrying 33 000 litres of fuel went
out of control and crashed onto its side. The victims were
buried in a mass grave hours after the disaster.
"The accident happened on Monday evening. About an hour
after the crash petrol started oozing out of the tanker so the
local villagers decided to scoop. More than 70 lives were lost,"
said Kaduna state police spokesperson Saad Yahaya.
He said the driver of the truck had tried to warn the
villagers about the danger of getting close to the tanker but
they had ignored his advice.
Common occurrence
Such tragedies are common in Nigeria, where poverty and
recurrent fuel shortages make the lure of free petrol
irresistible to many.
Almost 300 people were burnt to death in Lagos on December 26 as
they took fuel from a vandalised pipeline. Fuel thieves
frequently drill holes into pipelines in Nigeria.
A similar explosion at another Lagos pipeline in May killed
about 200 people.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is also the
continent's biggest exporter of crude oil but it is unable to
produce enough refined petroleum products for its domestic
market.
As a result it relies on massive imports of petrol and
diesel and the market is often manipulated by middlemen acting
for powerful business or political interests, leading to regular
shortages and lengthy fuel queues for ordinary Nigerians.
- Reuters
|
News
