No less than 55 persons have died in a tanker explosion in Niger early Monday, AFP reports.
Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum said the tanker exploded near an international airport in the capital, Niamey.
About 36 persons are receiving treatment in hospitals after the explosion.
Mr Bazoum wrote on Twitter that the explosion was sparked when some residents tried to scoop petrol from the tanker which had overturned on railway tracks.
