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The driver of a fuel tanker was transporting 45,000 liters of gasoline on an unlit road in northern Nigeria on Tuesday night when a van carrying tomatoes veered into his lane. The driver lost control of his vehicle as he tried to avoid the van.
The tanker capsized.
The driver, Yusuf Mohammad, emerged from the truck uninjured, as did the driver of the van. But within minutes, hundreds of residents swarmed around the overturned tanker to scoop up the spilled gasoline, an increasingly expensive and scarce commodity in Nigeria.
The decision cost them their lives. The tanker exploded an hour later and killed 168 people in the state of Jigawa, according to emergency officials. It was one of the deadliest road accidents ever recorded in Nigeria. Over 90 others remained hospitalized as of Thursday evening.
On Thursday, mourners circled around the area where most of the victims had been buried in the town of Majia, 70 miles away from Nigeria’s second-largest city, Kano.
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A map of Nigeria highlighting the town of Majia.
Niger
Chad
Majia
Kano
Benin
Nigeria
Abuja
Lagos
Cameroon
200 miles
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