Dozens Killed in Collision Between Fuel Tanker and Truck in Nigeria

At least 59 people were killed in Nigeria on Sunday after a fuel tanker collided with a passenger truck about 80 miles west of the capital, Abuja, emergency officials said.

The accident was the latest traffic-related disaster to highlight how roads in countries across Africa are some of the world’s deadliest.

The victims were burned to death after a passenger truck collided with a fuel tanker that had toppled on its side in Nigeria’s Niger state, according to the police and Abdullahi Baba-Arab, the head of the local emergency agency.

In Nigeria and across West Africa, passengers often travel on the back of large trucks or even on their roofs, with little to no safety measures. Some 50 cattle were also burned alive in the crash, Mr. Baba-Arab said.

Traffic-related fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for nearly one-fifth of road deaths globally in 2021, even though the region holds only 15 percent of the world’s population and only 3 percent of its vehicles, according to a report from the World Health Organization published this year.

While road deaths increased by 17 percent in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2021, they decreased by 5 percent globally over the same period, the World Health Organization said — by 2 percent in Southeast Asia to 36 percent in Europe. Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region where road deaths increased.

The accident in Nigeria occurred early on Sunday as the truck carrying passengers was on its way from the country’s north to its largest city in the south, Lagos. The driver of the fuel tanker was driving at full speed when he lost control of the vehicle, which toppled on its side and caught fire, according to a police report reviewed by The New York Times. The passenger truck and two vehicles behind it caught fire after colliding with the toppled fuel tanker, according to the report.

All four vehicles were burned to ashes, read the report.

Mr. Baba-Arab said that rescue efforts were ongoing and that there may be more victims.

Africa is one of the fastest growing markets for used vehicles, but laws around road safety — from pedestrian protections to speed limits and the use of helmets and seatbelts — remain poorly enforced, according to the World Health Organization.

Road-related deaths in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, are below the continent’s average, but accidents caused by fuel tanker explosions are frequent because of loosely implemented safety regulations and poorly maintained roads. In April, more than 100 vehicles were burned after a fuel tanker exploded on a road in southern Nigeria.

More than 5,000 people died and 31,000 others were injured in traffic accidents reported in Nigeria last year, said George Akume, a government official. Mr. Akume launched a mobile app designed to prevent road accidents in Nigeria last week, two days before the fuel tanker collided with the passenger truck.

Ismail Alfa contributed reporting from Maiduguri, Nigeria.