KANO, Nigeria — More than 150 people were killed in northern Nigeria on Tuesday after an overturned fuel tanker exploded, emergency officials said, in one of the deadliest road disasters ever recorded in Africa’s most populous country.

While the death toll was exceptionally high, the incident followed an all too common pattern on Nigeria’s roads: A truck driver lost control of a fuel tanker, and people rushed in to collect the spilled gasoline from the overturned vehicle. Shortly after, an explosion turned into a deadly inferno.

As residents in the town of Majia, where the explosion occurred, mourned their dead Wednesday after a day of mass burials, several injured people remained hospitalized in critical condition, and emergency services officials said a preliminary death toll of 147 would likely rise.

“Multiple households have suffered devastating casualties, losing more than one family member,” said Mu’azu Rabiu, a resident of Majia who witnessed the incident.

— The New York Times