At least 45 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in central Nigeria, when a petrol tanker crashed off the road and exploded as people gathered fuel.

The truck overturned close to shops as it was travelling through the village of Ahumbe, in Benue state on Monday this week.

The federal road safety commission sector commander for Benue state Aliyu Baba said they have recovered 45 corpses of the dead, while 101 others sustained serious burns.

Baba further said from the look of things and considering their condition, many people injured from the incidence might not survive.

Police and emergency services crews were working to clear the tanker's charred hulk from the road today, and at least one building and a 14-seater bus were gutted by the explosion.