[greekbeast]

AFP | July 13, 2012 12:16AM

AT LEAST 95 people who rushed to scoop up fuel after a Nigerian petrol tanker tipped over have been killed
when the vehicle caught fire.

The tanker swerved as it was trying to avoid a collision with three oncoming vehicles including a bus, said Kayode
Olagunju, sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission in the southern Rivers state.

Residents said that shortly after the collision hundreds of locals flocked to the site to collect the spilling fuel.



"Then there was an explosion followed by fire," Mr Olagunju said. "Ninety-three were burned to death on the spot. Two
died later in the hospital (and) 18 people were seriously injured."

In a statement, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the same figures.

Many of those killed were motorcycle taxi operators, known locally as "Okada", who raced to fill up their tanks after
learning of the crash.

Mr Olagunju said at least 34 motorcycles were destroyed in the blaze.

The accident happened in an area called Ahoada near the oil hub of Port Harcourt in Nigeria's crude-producing Niger Delta
region.

Motorcycle taxi driver Kingsley Jafure said the vehicle collision occurred at roughly 6am local time, and the spilled petrol
caught fire about 90 minutes later, but that time sequence could not be immediately confirmed by officials.

The area had been cordoned off by security forces and a large number of rescue officials were on the ground.

The NEMA statement said "rescue workers from the police, road safety, fire service, civil defence and NEMA were at the
scene to evacuate victims and control the traffic".