From John Adams Minna
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NISEMA) has confirmed another fuel tanker explosion in Karamin Rami village, Mashegu Local Government area of the state.
The Director General of the agency, Mohammed Arah, who confirmed the incident in a statement in Minna on Friday, said the tanker explosion claimed the lives of seven farmers who were said to be working in their farms when the incident occurred.
The Director General disclosed that the incident occurred on Tuesday at about 6:30 pm when the driver of the tanker, in an attempt to manoeuvre its way through the bad portion of road, fell and overturned it’s content which spilled into a nearby farm where the farmers were working.
It was gathered that the spilled content from the tanker, suspected to be premium motor spirit (PMS), had contact with the water-pumping machine being used by the farmers in their rice farms and caught flame.
The inferno, according to him, followed the content back to the source and the tanker exploded, killing seven of the farmers and injuring one.
He stated further that an entire rice field, including fruits, vegetables and other farm produce, were razed by the inferno. The agency gave the names of those who lost their lives to include; Rafiatu Sahabi, Ramlat Shehu, Rashida Abdullahi, Raliya Abdulrahaman, Zainab Ahmed, Zuwaira idrisu and Maryam A Nura. Another victim, Maimuna Isah suffered some degree of burnt and she is being treated at the Saho Rami Primary Health Care facility. This latest incident is coming barely two months after a devastating fuel tanker explosion at Dikko junction along Kaduna-Abuja expressway killed over 100 people and injured about 65 others.