The death toll after fuel tanker overturned in Nigeria's Jigawa state, causing the vehicle to explode in flames, has climbed to over 100 after more victims succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment in hospital.
The victims had tried to scoop up fuel from the tanker, the emergency services said on Wednesday.
The accident occurred at midnight in Jigawa state's Majiya town after the tanker driver lost control of the vehicle while traveling on a highway, local police spokesperson Lawan Adam said.
Ninety-seven people were “burned to ashes” at the scene while eight others died at the hospital, Haruna Mairiga, head of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, told The Associated Press.
Bodies littered
The driver involved in the latest accident had traveled about 110 kilometers (68 miles) from the neighboring Kano state, police said.
Residents who heard about the accident rushed to the scene and were scooping up fuel, “sparking a massive inferno,” police spokesman Lawan Adam said.
Videos that appeared to be from the scene showed a massive fire stretching across the entire area, with what appeared to be bodies littered at the scene.
Residents in Majiya town were in mourning on Wednesday morning as locals held a mass burial for the victims. Most of the bodies were unrecognizable, the emergency services said.
“If they knew (about the danger), they wouldn’t have gone to fetch (the fuel)," said Mairiga, head of the emergency services.
'Burned to ashes'
He said emergency services only arrived at the scene several hours after the accident. “But the incident had already happened ... those caught up (in the fire) were burned to ashes,” Mairiga said.
In one of the videos, the person who recorded the clip appeared to try to mobilize others to help the victims. “It’s burning the body!” he shouted. “He will die ... when the vehicle explodes there will be a problem.”
Resident Sani Umar told the local Channels Television how the fire "spread so quickly that many couldn’t escape.”
"People were running in all directions, screaming for help," Umar said.
“This is a heartbreaking moment for us all,” said state police commissioner Ahmadu Abdullahi.
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