More than 100 people die by fire tanker in Nigeria

Police in Rivers State in southeast Nigeria, reported that over 100 people were feared dead burned and many more were injured in the early hours of today because the fire occurred while collecting fuel from a tanker truck overturned.

The spokesman for the state police command, Ben Ugwuegbulam, confirmed the incident to Xinhua by telephone from his base in Port Harcourt, capital of the state, and said the gasoline tanker truck collided with three vehicles within 11 kilometers of Ahoada-Mbiama in the east-west road in Rivers, and burst into flames.

The Federal Highway Safety (CFSC) has recovered more than 80 bodies at the scene.

People were gathering fuel the tanker when it exploded, leaving many victims, he could demonstrate a Xinhua reporter.

In a statement, the sector commander of the CFSC, Kayode Olagunju, said that until 11:45 local time the bodies were recovered.

He mentioned that four vehicles, including truck, were involved in the crash, but the tanker caught fire when people came to steal the fuel.

The death toll "is definitely high" and said that some 20 injured were taken to hospitals and that 34 motorcycles were also burned.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management confirmed that 95 bodies have been recovered and that 18 people were admitted to hospitals.

The theft of fuel pipelines or tankers injured is a common practice in Nigeria, a major oil producer in Africa. Mismanagement and corruption affecting the refining sector to the extent of causing chronic fuel shortages.

In recent years there have been several pipeline explosions that have killed scores of people.

In one of the worst incidents of its kind, about 300 people were burned alive in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, on December 26, 2006, while collecting fuel from a pipeline that was looted.