LAGOS: Between 70 and 80 people were killed when a fuel tanker truck exploded after hitting a pothole on a road in southern Nigeria, several newspapers said on Saturday.

The truck overturned and exploded after hitting a pothole on Friday on the road between Onitsha and Enugu, witnesses and police told the papers, torching vehicles including five packed minibuses.

Anambra state road safety director Ben Ekenna admitted local roads were in a bad state and was quoted as saying that "if something isn't done quickly, tragedies like this will happen again."

Accidents on Nigeria's poorly-maintained inter-city roads are common.