An oil tanker truck exploded Monday in a bus station in the southern Nigerian state of Anambra, killing at least 69 and wounding dozens of others, Nigerian Red Cross said. The petrol tanker lost control and exploded at a crowded bus station in Onitsha, the state capital, and started a huge fire that also spread to many other vehicles, including 15 buses.
Nigeria Red Cross Chairman Peter Emeka Kathy said about 30 other victims have been hospitalized with severe burns. He said the truck was traveling down a hill when the brakes failed and it plowed into the bus station at Onitsha before exploding.
State police chief Hosea Karma said the victims inside the buses were burnt beyond recognition. “Scores of other victims, who were still alive, were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital,” he added.
The death toll may rise as some of the injured were being treated for severe burns.
