A fuel tanker exploded after flipping over in central Nigeria on Saturday, killing about 70 people who had scrambled to take the fuel. A Federal Road Safety Corps statement said a ‘large crowd of people gathered to scoop the fuel [when] suddenly the tanker burst into flames, engulfing another tanker … the victims are mostly scavengers’. In 2023, president Bola Tinubu abolished a fuel subsidy, sending prices of essentials and other goods soaring, triggering protests. The price of gasoline has increased fivefold in 18 months, leading many to risk their lives to recover fuel during tanker truck accidents, which are common in Africa’s most populous country
