Fuel tanker blast kills 18 in Nigeria's south east

Abuja: A fuel tanker truck explosion killed 18 people in Nigeria's southeastern Enugu state on Saturday, the national road safety agency said, a week after another incident left about a 100 residents dead in the north of the country.

The truck suffered brake failure and the driver lost control, crashing into more than a dozen vehicles on an expressway, Olusegun Ogungbemide, spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps said in a statement late on Saturday.

He said 10 people were rescued with different degrees of injuries and another three were unharmed.

"Unfortunately, the remaining 18 victims were burnt beyond recognition," said Ogungbemide.

Accidents involving fuel tanker trucks have become common in Africa's largest oil producer, which authorities blame on bad roads and reckless driving, often with dozens of fatalities.