Niger State Governor, Abubarkar Sani Bello, has visited the scene of the last weekend’s fire disaster which claimed 19 people. Fifteen died same day while three died after they were rushed to nearby hospital for treatment.
A Kaduna bound petrol tanker from Lagos lost control along the Teggina-Kaduna road in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State and rammed into some residential buildings and immediately went into flames.
Most of those that died were occupants of about eight houses that were completely razed down. Besides those that were trapped inside the buildings, some of the traders selling along the road also lost their lives to the inferno.
The intervention of some Nigerians however prevented the inferno from spreading to other buildings along the busy Teggina-Kaduna highway as the pandemonium caused by the accident caused panic in the town, eyewitness said.
Governor Bello during the visit said that though the cash assistance of N28 million would not bring back those who died in the inferno, his administration’s gesture was to provide them with succour and help those whose houses and business premises were destroyed.
The governor however said that measures would be taken to ensure that such disasters were averted in the future, noting that Teggina has been prone to explosions from tanker conveying high volume of inflatable liquid to northern part of the country through Niger State.
Houses built close to the main road aided the high casualty figure, Bello said and expressed preparedness of his government to look into the possibility of relocating the houses and their occupants to safer haven.
He therefore directed the state Ministry of Works to fashion out short term solution to mitigate the incessant tanker accident in the town and to liaise with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Federal Ministry of Works for a lasting solution.