One dies, 10 suffer serious burns in petrol fire
One person was burnt to death, and 10 others sustained serious injuries in a fire when they tried to siphon petrol from a fuel tanker that was involved in an accident at Chiweta Trading Centre in Rumphi on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.
Rumphi Police spokesperson, Victor Khamisi, said Shone Nyirenda, 36, from Juma Village in Traditional Authority Mwase in Kasungu, died when the tanker caught fire and exploded.
The tanker, police said, had overturned around 6am on Wednesday when the driver Makiwa Ally Baruti, 53, from Tanzania failed to negotiate a corner around Chiweta
Police cordoned off the place but Nyirenda and others waited for darkness and rushed to the accident scene to steal petrol.
“There were running battles between the police and the communities as police tried to stop the looting and in the process, we just noticed the fire from the vehicle which burnt some people including the house belonging to Vick Chisenga, 39, and a bar of Kaperemera Harawa,” Khamisi said.
Police said Nyirenda was burnt to death and 10 others seriously burnt.
“We have referred 10 to David Gordon Memorial Hospital at Livingstonia,” Khamisi said.
He said the tanker registration number T699DMF belonging to Mec-One Industry from Tanzania was coming from Karonga towards Mzuzu.
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