The Okobie road tanker explosion occurred on 12 July 2012 when a

tank truck A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (American English) or tanker (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also des ...

in Okobie,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, fell into a ditch, spilled its

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

contents, and subsequently exploded, killing at least 121. The tanker attempted to avoid a collision with two cars and a bus, veered into a ditch, and spilled fuel. Hundreds of locals rushed to the scene to take some of the spilled petrol. About 40 minutes after the accident, the tanker exploded. The death toll was initially placed at 95, including 93 people who perished instantly and two who died after being brought to hospital. The death toll was later revised to 121 after more bodies were recovered from neighboring villages where they had been taken by their relatives. The number of injured was at least 75, although the actual number was likely higher as some were treated by relatives or at private clinics. Some 34 motorcycle taxis were destroyed. The drivers of the motorcycles, known as

Okada Okada (written: 岡田 literally "hill rice-paddy") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the name include: * , Japanese painter * Doris Okada Matsui, American politician of the Democratic Party * , Japanese painter in the Edo period * , Japa ...

in Nigeria, came to scoop up spilled fuel for their vehicles after learning of the accident and became victims of the explosion. In separate statements, the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Road Safety Commission of

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa ...

gave the same figures for the incident. The NEMA statement also said that "rescue workers from the police, road safety, fire service, civil defence and NEMA were at the scene to evacuate victims and control traffic".

Nigerian President The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigeria ...

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of many lives" and "particularly distraught by the fact that, once again, so many Nigerian lives have been lost in an avoidable fuel fire

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

". Jonathan was referring to two previous incidents: one in March 2012 killing six people and one in April 2011 killing 50.

References

{{Tanker explosions 2012 in Nigeria 2010s in Rivers State July 2012 events in Nigeria 2012 road incidents Explosions in 2012 Explosions in Nigeria Road incidents in Nigeria Events in Rivers State Deaths caused by petroleum looting Industrial fires and explosions Tanker explosions 2012 disasters in Nigeria

See also

References