(BSS/AFP) - A fuel tanker overturned and exploded on a motorway in central Nigeria on Tuesday, killing at least 29 people and injuring many more, emergency services said.

The latest in a series of similar accidents ocurred in Niger State, along a route linking Bida and Agaie.

"A lorry carrying fuel overturned and began to leak. People went to scoop up the fuel. The truck exploded and they got burnt," Ibrahim Hussaini, a local coordinator for the national emergency agency, told AFP. "We have 29 dead and 42 injured."

Tanker truck accidents are common in Nigeria, where roads are often poorly maintained and residents attempt to siphon off fuel after such accidents, often caused by speeding and disregarding traffic laws.

To revive the economy, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ended fuel subsidies and currency controls upon taking office in May 2023.

But the changes triggered a cost-of-living crisis in Africa`s most populous country, leading people to take major risks to procure petrol.

In March, 10 people died in a pileup on a highway outside the capital Abuja after a tanker truck caught fire.

In January, at least 98 people died after gathering to collect fuel following a tanker truck crash in Niger State.

After that incident, Tinubu ordered a national campaign to raise public awareness of the risks and environmental hazards posed by collecting fuel from fallen tankers.