Residents Rush To Scoop Groundnut Oil As Another Tanker Overturns In Niger, Three Days After 98 Killed In Explosion
According to multiple community sources who spoke to SaharaReporters, the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, just three days after the deadly tanker explosion on Dikko-Maje Road, near Badeggi filling station in Suleja Local Government Area, which resulted in the loss of 98 lives.
Videos obtained by SaharaReporters show dozens of residents in Bida town, Niger State, collecting groundnut oil after a tanker overturned near Shafa filling station in the Esso area.
According to multiple community sources who spoke to SaharaReporters, the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, just three days after the deadly tanker explosion on Dikko-Maje Road, near Badeggi filling station in Suleja Local Government Area, which resulted in the loss of 98 lives.
Reports indicate that those gathered to collect the spilling fuel were caught in an explosion, which also impacted those trying to assist the victims.
The fire spread across a large area, leaving behind charred remains and widespread destruction.
The explosion is said to have occurred around 9:00 am while efforts were underway to transfer PMS from the overturned tanker to another vehicle.
Despite the recent tragic incident in Suleja Local Government Area, new videos from Tuesday morning show residents in Bida approaching the fallen truck with jerry cans and buckets to collect the spilled groundnut oil near a filling station in the town.
WATCH: Residents Rush To Scoop Groundnut Oil As Another Tanker Overturns In Niger, Three Days After 98 Killed In Explosion pic.twitter.com/fk4r1zplmR
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“The oil is not fuel as people earlier claimed. It is groundnut oil. Maybe people first mistook it for fuel because the place is close to a filling station. But the tanker indeed fell,” a community source said.
“The tanker in Bida was not carrying petrol but groundnut oil,” the source added.
SaharaReporters was unable to reach the Niger Police Command Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, for a comment on the incident.
Despite several attempts to contact him on Tuesday morning, his phone remained unreachable.
SaharaReporters has previously reported numerous incidents where hundreds of Nigerians have lost their lives while attempting to collect fuel from overturned tankers.
