About eight people have been confirmed dead after a fuel tanker exploded in Nigeria’s south-west Ondo state.

Residents had been scooping up spilt fuel from the tanker which was involved in a road accident on Sunday night, state police said.

“The tanker exploded on its own killing eight people, and injured many others who are currently being treated in the hospital,” the police spokeswoman told the BBC.

Nigerians have been struggling to pay for fuel recently, after prices jumped in the wake of the removal of a petrol subsidy.