At Least Six People Were Killed in a Violent Trailer Incident in Nigeria

A trailer smashed into halted vehicles and erupted into flames near Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, killing at least six people, authorities reported Wednesday. The tragedy occurred on a major highway near the Nyanya Bridge in Ayo, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the city center, when the trailer, loaded with cement, lost control and rammed into 14 vehicles stalled in traffic, according to a statement from the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.

The city’s Emergency Management Department stated that preliminary assessments indicate that the trailer was fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG). The impact engulfed 14 vehicles in a raging inferno,” the statement said. “Panic and commotion ensued as bystanders and motorists rushed for safety.

According to the police, six individuals were retrieved from the wreckage and taken to the hospital but were later pronounced dead. Without an adequate train system to convey cargo, fatal truck accidents are widespread on most main roads in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

In January, 98 persons were murdered in a gasoline tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria, near the Suleja district of Niger state, when people attempted to transfer gasoline from a crashed oil tanker to another truck using a generator. Some spectators gathered at the scene to scoop gasoline.

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