While accidentally trying to heat some water to brew some tea for his customers, a local tea vendor in Niger State accidentally set off an explosion of fuel trucks.
Around 7:00 am on Saturday, the fuel tankers caught fire in Badegi town near the Badegi-Bida road in the state's Katcha Local Government Area.
The roadside tea vendor allegedly went to one of the fuel tanks parked close to his store to burn firewood to warm the water pot he had placed on fire, but he is said to have been unaware of the tanker's leak when he was setting up his firewood, which caused the tanker to explode and catch fire.
In a telephone interview with Tribune Online on Saturday in Minna, the state capital, the director general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Malam Ahmed Ibrahim Inga, made this statement. He said, "The fire was caused by a local tea seller who wanted to light his firewood to warm the water for his customers so that they could make tea for them, but unknowing to him, a tanker lorry nearby was loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), and was leaking.
The NSEMA director added that five filled tankers also caught fire, and that a nearby group of sympathizers promptly transported the injured tea vendor to the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Bida for treatment.
However, according to Inga, no homes or businesses were burned, and there were no casualties from the terrible tragedy.
My agency is in communication with our desk officer in the local government region, who is now handling the problem along with other officials, the man said.
