MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — At least 48 people were killed on Sunday in a fuel tanker truck explosion following a collision with another vehicle in north-central Nigeria, the state's disaster management agency said.
The State Emergency Management Agency in north-central Niger state said the fuel truck collided with a truck carrying travelers and cattle. Several other vehicles were also caught up in the accident, it said.
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The agency's spokesperson Hussaini Ibrahim put the death toll at 48 and officials were still trying to clear the scene of the incident.
Nigeria's state-owned firm NNPC Ltd last week hiked the price of gasoline by at least 39 percent, the second major increase in more than a year but shortages have continued, forcing motorists to queue for hours in the country's major cities and towns.
