Tanzania blast

Eyewitnesses capture the blaze caused by an overturned tanker truck exploding in Tanzania. Photo: Twitter

At least 60 dead in deadly tanker blast in Tanzania

A petrol tanker has exploded in Tanzania while a large group of locals had gathered to siphon petrol from the stricken vehicle.

Tanzania blast

Eyewitnesses capture the blaze caused by an overturned tanker truck exploding in Tanzania. Photo: Twitter

At least 60 people have died in Tanzania on Saturday when a fuel tanker overturned and then exploded as people rushed to syphon off leaking fuel.

The deadly blast is the latest in a series of similar disasters on the African continent.  The incident took place near the town of Morogoro, west of the economic capital Dar es Salaam.

Morogoro governor Stephen Kebwe said that 60 victims of the blast were killed and are currently at the morgue of the local hospital, where more than 70 people are still being treated for injuries.

Kebwe warned the toll could rise with more victims possibly still trapped under the truck.

Regional police chief Willbrod Mtafungwa told reporters there was a “huge explosion” after the vehicle overturned.

Witnesses contacted by foreign press via telephone claimed they could see charred remains of motorcycle taxis and trees scorched by the power of the explosion.

Mtafungwa claimed the dead were mainly drivers of the taxis known as “boda-boda” and local residents flocking to the scene for the fuel after the crash.

A video posted on social media showed dozens of people busy trying to recover fuel in yellow jerricans.

Tanzania has never seen a disaster of such magnitude

The precise cause of the explosion has been obfuscated by conflicting claims from witnesses and officials.

The governor said the explosion was triggered when a man tried to pull out the truck’s battery, while witnesses said one of the people looting the fuel was smoking a cigarette.

Police have confirmed that the blaze has been brought under control.

“The Morogoro region had never experienced a disaster of such magnitude,” Kebwe told reporters at the scene in the locality of Msamvu, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Dar es Salaam.

He said the tanker truck overturned on the roadside and the “fuel began to flow freely”.

“We have mobilised all the doctors at the Morogoro regional hospital so the wounded can be treated,” he added.

The cost of fuel on the continent drives desperate people to risk their lives for a can full of spilt petrol and sadly similar incidents have happened elsewhere on the continent, also with exceptionally high death tolls, in the recent past. Tanzania may never have experienced such tragedy but it appears to be becoming a growing issue.

Last month, at least 45 people were killed and more than 100 injured in central Nigeria when a petrol tanker crashed and then exploded as people were trying to gather fuel.

In May, a similar incident occurred in Niger just a short distance from the airport in the capital Niamey, leaving almost 80 people dead.

Among the deadliest such disasters, 292 people lost their lives in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2010, and in September 2015 at least 203 people perished in the town of Maridi in South Sudan.