No fewer than 58 people died in Niamey, the capital of Niger
Republic after an overturned tanker truck exploded while people were trying to
scoop fuel.
The blast on the RN1 route near the international airport
night left the burnt truck’s wreckage, motorbikes and debris scattered over the
road. Nearby houses were damaged by fire.
Witnesses said people were trying to collect petrol leaking
from the truck, which had overturned on railway tracks, when the explosion
happened. “Just before midnight I went out and I saw the truck overturned.
People came from everywhere to take gas, then I saw fire on its side and
everything burst into flames,” a college student told AFP.
President Mahamadou Issoufou visited some of the injured in
hospital in the capital, according to the presidential Twitter account
while Prime Minister Brigi Rafini and the Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum
inspected the site of the explosion, describing a scene of “real drama.”
Bazoum said the truck had tipped over while trying to park.
Crowds and motorbike drivers rushed to the scene to take fuel from the tanker.
“Unfortunately one of the motorcyclists did not switch off their engine. There
must have been a spark that caused a massive blast,” the minister said.
He said 37 people were injured. Most were in a very serious
condition in hospital with burns. Niger, a poor West African country, has tried
to stamp out fuel smuggling from neighbouring Nigeria. Nigeria, a major oil
producer, has seen similar deadly accidents and explosions in the past when
people try to steal fuel from oil pipelines.
A small private jet crashed into a motorbike and a car while attempting to land at an airport in the outskirts of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, leaving at least 10 peopledead, officials said on Thursday.
A Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) aircraft, a light private business jet, was carrying six passengers and two crew when it crashed near Elmina township at 2.08 p.m. (0608 GMT), just before it was due to land, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan told reporters.
The aircraft lost contact with the air traffic control tower and crashed into a motorbike and a car on the highway, he said. “There was no emergency call, the aircraft had been given clearance to land,” Hussein Omar said. A search and rescue mission is underway. The country’s civil aviation authority (CAAM) said the flight had departed from the holiday island of Langkawi and was en route to Selangor’s Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport near the capital city Kuala Lumpur.
Seven Passengers Burnt To Death Near Third Mainland Bridge In Car Accident
Seven passengers have been confirmed killed after a commercial bus caught fire in Lagos on Sunday
At least five others were said to have sustained injuries in the tragic incident that occurred at Iyana Oworo, close to the Third Mainland Bridge.
The deceased comprises four females, two male adults and one male child.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said there were 14 passengers in the ill-fated bus with registration number KJA 699 GY.
Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, said the driver had some burns.
He added that three female adults involved in the incident were rushed to Gbagada General Hospital and that a male adult was attended to by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) at the scene.
“LASTMA officials at the scene have made arrangements to remove the burnt vehicle from the road,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
Nigerian Deputy Governor Loses Seven-Year-Old Son In Car Accident
By Olorunfemi Adejuyigbe
The deputy governor of Yobe State, Hon. Idi Barde Gubana, lost a son in an auto crash which occurred yesterday
A statement signed by his press secretary, Hussaini Mai Suleh, in Damaturu said the seven-year-old boy who was a namesake to Governor Mai Mala Buni died in a crash along Maiduguri-Kano road.
He said the boy had been buried according to Islamic rites at the palace of the Mai of Fune in Damagum town in Fune local government area.
Reacting, the deputy governor said; “I will forever remember him as somebody close to me.’’
Top government officials and other personalities were at the residence of the deputy governor to sympathise with the family over the death.
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