NSEMA confirms seven dead in Niger tanker explosion

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has reported that at least seven people were killed and one person was critically injured in a petroleum tanker explosion that occurred on Tuesday in the Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State.

According to a statement issued by the Director General of NSEMA, Hon. Abdullahi Baba Arah, and shared with Saturday Tribune on Friday in Minna, the incident took place in Karami Rami, a village in Mashegu LGA.

The explosion happened when a tanker truck attempted to navigate the area’s poorly maintained roads without shoulders and overturned.

The truck’s contents, Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), spilled into nearby brooks, where dry-season farmers were working on their rice fields.

According to the statement, “The tanker contents on board the Heavy Duty Fuel Ladden tanker lorry was said to have come in contact with the farmers’ water pumping machine that was pumping water from the stream into the farm and caught fire which of which allegedly resonated in a huge fire explosion at the back of the tanker, and the explosion occurred. 

Baba Arah further stated that the fire returned to the farmland through the already contaminated streams, which burned some of the farmers and destroyed the entire rice field, along with the fruit vegetation.

“As of  the time of filing this report, seven (7) lives were lost with one person severely  injured and the names of the dead persons  were identified as: Rafiatu sahabi, Ramlat Shehu, Rashida Abdullahi, Raliat Abdulrahaman, Zainab Ahmed, Zuwaira idrisu,Maryam A. Nura,while Maimuma Isah is said to be the injured person. 

He, however, assured that the injured woman has since been taken to the hospital and has been receiving treatment at Saho Rami Primary Health Care.