The dead toll from Nigeria’s truck disaster has risen to 98.

Nigerian rescuers boosted the death toll from 86 to 98 when a petrol tanker truck exploded, killing civilians racing to get gasoline.

According to Abdullahi Baba-Arah, Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), the blast on Saturday injured 69 persons when the truck fell over on a route in the country’s centre.

The fire also damaged around 20 stores, with the truck carrying 60,000 litres (almost 16,000 gallons) of gasoline.
The explosion occurred at the Dikko crossroads on the route that connects the federal capital Abuja to the northern city of Kaduna.

A mob of people raced to the location where the tanker had flipped over in search of fuel, the price of which has risen in an economic

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic measures, particularly the elimination of an expensive gasoline subsidy, have contributed to this trend.

With gasoline prices soaring fivefold in 18 months, despite the country being Africa’s largest oil producer, some Nigerians are ready to risk their lives to gather petroleum from vehicles involved in traffic accidents.