More than 100 killed in Nigeria fuel spill
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E-mail Xinhua, July 12, 2012
Police in southeast Nigeria's Rivers on Thursday said more than 100 persons were feared to be burnt to death, while many were injured while scooping fuel from a fallen tanker in the early hours of the day.
Spokesperson for the state police command Ben Ugwuegbulam confirmed the incident to Xinhua on phone from his base in Port Harcourt, the state capital, saying the petrol-carrying tanker crashed with three other vehicles, 11 km from Ahoada-Mbiama on the east-west road in Rivers, and there erupted fire.
A Xinhua reporter at the scene of the incident said the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has recovered more than 80 bodies from the scene of a tanker which burst into flames.
"People were scooping fuel from the tanker when it exploded, casualty figures definitely high," he added.
The reporter said police, fire fighters and the Joint Task Force were at the scene to ensure that miscreants do not take laws into their hands.
In a statement reaching Xinhua, the sector commander for FRSC, Kayode Olagunju, said the dead bodies were recovered as of 11:45 a. m. local time.
According to him, four vehicles, including the tanker, were involved in a crash early on Thursday, but the tanker caught fire when the people rushed for free fuel.
He also said casualty figures were "definitely high", adding about 20 injured persons have already been taken to hospitals and 34 motor-cycles also got burnt.
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