About 50 shops and five houses have been burnt in a tanker fire explosion that occurred at Lambata town in Gawu Babangida local government area of Niger state, Sunday night.
It was also learnt that two vehicles, one of them a fuel laden tanker, and the other a trailer loaded with goods, were also burnt in addition to two motorcycles during the incident.
According to eyewitnesses, several goods especially agricultural produce displayed in the shops and some household goods were destroyed in the inferno.
However, no life was lost as the incident occurred on a Sunday when most of the traders did not open their shops.
An eyewitness said the accident occurred when the tanker and another vehicle were involved in a head-on collision.
It was gathered that the two vehicles were trying to avoid the bad portion of the road without either of them exercising patience for the other.
The collision caused the fuel laden tanker to explode, spilling its contents and resulting in the fire which burnt all the affected properties.
Blueprint learnt that officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were at Lambatta on Monday to assess the situation.
Director General of the Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, who confirmed the story, described the situation as “sad”, adding that: “We will compile our report and send it to the appropriate authority.”
