No fewer than 33 people have been confirmed dead following a fire outbreak at a smuggled petrol warehouse in Seme Krake, a Beninous town on the border with Nigeria.
Africa Today News, New York reports that that Seme Krake is in Benin’s southeastern department of Oueme.
According to the chief of the local fire brigade, Dallys Ahouangbegnon, the fire, which broke out close to the pineapple market in the town, spread to houses and vehicles parked near the site.
Three injured individuals were evacuated for medical treatment.
Some of those who managed to escape to Banouto from the scene described the effect of the fire as catastrophic and the loss of lives and property as staggering.
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Firefighters who arrived on the site quickly reported having a difficult time putting out the flames.
Despite the federal government’s recent elimination of gasoline subsidies, which increased fuel prices, the smuggling of petrol from Nigeria continues to flourish.
The majority of the petrol sold on the streets of Benin’s towns and neighbourhoods comes from stations situated along the country’s border with Nigeria.
The trade, which generates huge profits, also entails major risks, given the precarious conditions in which the product is stored. As a result, fires occur frequently with heavy tolls.
In another report, the Ogun Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has confirmed the interception of 1,245 live ammunition allegedly concealed in 203 bags of foreign rice abandoned in a bush path at Tombolo Junction, near the Yewa North Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun State.
The Customs Area Controller, comptroller of the Bamidele Makinde, who briefed journalists on Monday at Customs House in Abeokuta, said the duty paid value of the seized ammunition and rice is N17.638 million Naira.