The death toll in the recent petrol tanker explosion at the Dikko junction in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State has risen to 86 with 55 persons who sustained varying degrees of serious burns hospitalised.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, in a statement, confirmed that a total number of 86 persons have been confirmed dead, with their body recovered and buried.
According to him, 80 of them are in mass graves at Dikko PHC premises, while 5 were carried away for burial in the town by relatives, and 1 died in Dikko PHC.
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He added that the mass burial was carried out by NSEMA in collaboration with Gurara LGA and very brave, kind-hearted volunteers between the hours of 5pm to 12am.
Baba-Arah further confirmed that the number of injured now stands at 55, with one dead in Dikko PHC.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
