Black Sunday! Filling station on fire as fuel tanker explodes in Niger

A fuel laden tanker, on Sunday, went up in flames at A.A Rano filling station located at Hannun Riga, near General Hospital, Kontagora, headquarters of Kontagora Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State.

The filling station is also few meters from ‘B’ Division of the Nigeria Police, Kontagora.

Sources said the incident occurred while Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, was being offloaded from the tanker, around 7pm, on Sunday.

Eyewitness told Daily Trust via telephone that the fire started during the offloading process, with other fuel storage tanks at the station still containing fuel, raising fears of a possible escalation.

“Fire Service personnel did their best to contain the fire, though the situation remained tense as the fire continued to spread”, Abba Mohammed, one of the witnesses, said.

He said no casualty was recorded, adding that people, including passersby, fled the for their lives.

Efforts to get reaction from the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullah Baba Arah were not successful as his telephone line did not connect.