Tanker blast kills four in Nigeria
22 June 2020
Four people were killed on June 21 near Lagos, Nigeria after several explosions involving four vehicles. The first explosion involved a collision between two petroleum tankers which caused a fire to spread to another tanker carrying natural gas.
Representative image: Shutterstock
The Head of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said that the incident occurred on the Kara Bridge leasing out of Lagos. A rescue operation was conducted, but no survivors were found. DNA tests are being used to identify the bodies which have been burnt beyond recognition.
The accident is thought to have occurred after a petrol tanker lost control and crashed into another nearby tanker. This resulted in an explosion and fire which spread to a third tanker carrying natural gas and an articulated truck. All four drivers are thought to have been killed.
An investigation has been opened to find the exact cause of the initial incident.
Tanker collisions and explosions are not uncommon in Africa due to poor road quality and lax safety standards. In August 2019, 71 people died when an overturned oil tanker exploded in Tanzania. The majority of those killed had been siphoning the oil from the tanker after it crashed.
More recently, 23 people were killed and 150 injured after an explosion in Sudan where a gas tanker lorry crashed into gas storage tanks at a processing facility.
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