No fewer than 30 people have reportedly lost their lives, while about 40 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a tragic tanker explosion that occurred on Tuesday in Niger State.

The incident happened around 11:00 a.m. at Essan and Badeggi communities along the Bida–Agaie road in Katcha Local Government Area of the state.

Eyewitnesses said the victims were scooping fuel from a fallen tanker when the vehicle suddenly exploded, setting off a massive fire that engulfed several people.

Many victims were said to have been burnt beyond recognition, while the injured were evacuated to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Niger State Tanker Drivers Association and National Ex-Officio of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Farouk Kawo, described the tragedy as “devastating and avoidable.”

According to him, the ill-fated tanker was conveying petroleum products from Lagos to the northern part of the country when it crashed.

Kawo lamented that more than 30 tanker accidents had been recorded along the Bida–Agaie route in October alone, blaming the high rate of crashes on the deplorable state of the road.

He also expressed concern over the recurring practice by some youths who rush to scoop fuel from accident scenes despite repeated warnings.

“Just last Sunday, a tanker carrying groundnut oil also crashed in the same area, and residents rushed to scoop the product,” he added.

Efforts to obtain a reaction from the Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba-Arah, were unsuccessful, as calls put through to his phone were not answered at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the NUPENG official appealed to Governor Umaru Bago to urgently rehabilitate the affected portion of the road to prevent further loss of lives and property.