Up to 70 dead as Nigerian fuel tanker crashes into bus station

ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Up to 70 people were killed in Nigeria, many of them burnt alive, when a fuel tanker crashed into a busy bus station in the southeastern city of Onitsha on Sunday and exploded, Red Cross officials said.

Dozens of others were injured in the incident, in which 13 other vehicles were also incinerated.

"Most people were burned beyond recognition," Emeka Kachi, vice-president of the local Red Cross, said on Monday.

"We are transferring the corpses to a teaching hospital for DNA testing so that their relatives can identify them for a proper burial."

A police spokesman said the tanker had been speeding before veering out of control. He put the death toll at 23, with seven injured.

Muhammadu Buhari, sworn in as Nigerian president on Friday, offered his sympathies to victims and relatives.

The accident came five days after the end of a strike by fuel marketers, who had halted distribution as part of a pay dispute with the outgoing government.

While Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude oil producer, the neglected state of its refineries leaves it almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres of gasoline it consumes each day.

(Reporting by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Kevin Liffey)