69 Killed As Tanker Truck Explodes In Southern Nigeria

A runaway oil tanker truck exploded in a crowded bus station in the south of the country, igniting 11 other vehicles and killing 69, Nigeria’s Red Cross, said Monday.

Red Cross chairman Peter Emeka Kathy said about 30 other victims have been hospitalized with severe burns.

Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra state wept when he visited the scene of Sunday night’s conflagration. Local officials told him the tanker was laden with petrol when its brakes failed and it ploughed into the bus station at Onitsha, the state capital.

Relatives were visiting morgues on Monday to try and identify missing family members.

AP.