48 killed after gasoline tanker explosion in Nigeria: Official

Abuja, Sep 9 : At least 48 people were killed after a gasoline-laden tanker exploded on a busy highway in Niger, a state in Nigeria's central region, local authorities have said.

The ill-fated tanker had a head-on collision with an oncoming truck laden with cattle along the Bida-Agaie-Lapai highway, causing the gasoline tanker to explode, Abdullah Baba-Arah, head of the State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters in Minna on Sunday, the capital of the state.

Two other vehicles were caught up in the inferno, Baba-Arah said, noting up to 48 people were killed. At least 50 cattle were also lost to the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.

A search operation was underway to recover bodies of more victims believed to have been trapped in the unfortunate vehicles, he added.