Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)An oil tanker exploded during rush hour traffic Thursday, setting cars ablaze and killing at least nine people and injuring at least five, officials said.
The tanker crashed into a passenger car and caught fire on a busy bridge about 5 p.m. on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, a route used by commuters living on the outskirts of the city.
The death toll was expected to rise, as 54 vehicles were burned, a government official told CNN.
Response teams were trying to rescue people trapped in the fires.
"We are still battling this fire, and rescue teams are trying to access the bridge. Many people are trapped in the fire as we speak," Adesina Tiamiyu, who heads the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, told CNN.
Oludare Adodo said he was crossing the bridge on a commercial bus when its driver suddenly stopped and told passengers there had been an accident involving a toppled tanker.
"Petrol started leaking. A bus ran into it. The fire hadn't started then a car ran into the bus which caused