Bystanders look on at the wreckage of a truck that caught fire in Lokoja, Nigeria on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said 23 people, including students, were killed when a truck carrying petrol overturned and caught fire on Wednesday on a busy road in the center of the country.
The presidency figure more than doubled an earlier toll of nine counted by an AFP journalist who visited the mortuary in Lokoja, where the accident occurred.
"The death of 23 people as confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Commission, represents another disturbing and saddening incident in the litany of tragedies that have befallen our country," President Buhari said in a statement.
"I am seriously worried about the frequency of these unfortunate and large scale tragedies in the country which cause needless deaths," he noted.
Fuel truck accidents happen frequently on Nigeria's ill-maintained roads.
The Nigerian leader urged road users to comply with safety measures in order to prevent such tragedies in future.
Earlier, the AFP journalist said that he had counted nine bodies in the mortuary while several others suffered severe burns.
AFP