Nigerian Gasoline Tanker Explosion Kills 105 and Injures 70

  • Crashed fuel tanker exploded while people were scooping fuel
  • At least 70 others were injured in the resulting fire

Residents look at the site of an explosion of a fuel tanker in Majiya, Nigeria on Oct. 16.

Photographer: Aminu Abubakar/AFP/Getty Images
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Nigerian police said that more than 100 people died and scores were injured after a tanker involved in a traffic accident exploded as people swarmed around it to collect escaping gasoline.

Lawan Adam, deputy superintendent of police, said 105 bodies were recovered from the site of the incident, which occurred on Tuesday in Majiya, a town in Jigawa state 540 kilometers (338 miles) north of the capital, Abuja. Seventy people were hospitalized.