Nigeria, Jan. 26 -- The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed that 18 people were burnt to death on Saturday when a petrol tanker exploded in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria.

The incident, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, happened at about 11 a.m. in Ugwu Onyeama, along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway in Enugu State.

A witness, Sunday Ugwumba, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday night that the petrol tanker was coming down to the hilly area when the driver lost control and hit vehicles at the front.

"The tanker failed and the fuel (petrol) now poured out and caught fire. All the vehicles at the front and back of the tanker and people inside the vehicles were burnt," Mr Ugwumba, a commercial bus driver, said.

"About 100 people died," he claimed. ...