Scores were killed Tuesday after a fuel truck exploded next to a highway in Uganda, police said.
The truck overturned after an accident and later exploded in a town just outside Kampala, the capital, police spokesman Patrick Onyango said.
“At 3:00 PM today, October 22, 2024, a fuel tanker overturned and caught fire at Kigogwa Town along the Kampala-Bombo road in Kasangati, Wakiso District. Reports indicate several people may have lost their lives, while others have been injured.”- He said.
A video shared online by an onlooker showed people scooping up fuel from the truck before the blast. The dangerous scene echoed a similar incident in Nigeria last week that killed more than 140 people, including children.
People who rush to collect fuel from stricken trucks hope to sell it, despite warnings to stay away.
There have been similar incidents over the years across East Africa. At least 62 people were killed in Tanzania in 2019 as they attempted to siphon fuel out of a damaged truck.
In South Sudan, at least 183 people were killed in 2015 when hundreds of villagers gathered around a fuel truck to collect fuel.