Grisly road accident claims the lives of at least 50 people in Nigeria

At least 50 people died after a fuel tanker collided head-on with another truck in Nigeria on Sunday causing an explosion.

Accodingto the director-general of the Niger State Abdullahi Baba-Arab, the ful tanker was transporting cattle in the Agaie area in north-central Niger state where at least 50 of them were burnt alive.

Authorities called upon the affected residents to be calm and at the sametime asked road users to abide by the road traffic regulations to safeguard lives and property.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road deaths increased by 17 percent in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2021, they decreased by 5 percent globally over the same period.

In a 2024 WHO report, traffic-related fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for nearly one-fifth of road deaths globally in 2021, even though the region holds only 15 percent of the world’s population and only 3 percent of its vehicles