Three persons were killed and 39 vehicles burnt when a tanker loaded with petrol overturned and exploded in flames early on Saturday in Nigeria’s economic capital city of Lagos, the local media reported on Sunday. The accident occurred at the popular Mile Two area on the city outskirts.
The seven-hour inferno destroyed the vehicles, which belonged mostly to members of the local chapter of the umbrella body of transporters, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Two of the deceased were identified as members of the union.
The police said the driver of the tanker escaped from the scene and had yet to be apprehended.
Accidents involving fuel tankers are common in Nigeria, due mostly to reckless driving, bad roads and the poor maintenance of the vehicles.