The on-going fuel scarcity across the country has taken further social damaging dimension as a black market petrol hawker and his wife died in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The couple was killed Thursday when fire erupted from the kitchen where the late husband, Gideon Pam hoarded petrol at their residence in Zawan community of Jos South Local Government Area of the State.
An eye witness and neighbour, Shantel Alphonsus, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that “Pam runs an illegal petrol business at Zawan Junction.
“In the morning, he was called upon to get more supply from a fuel station, so he rushed back home to get some empty gallons to hoard scarce petrol.
“In a bid to empty some of the gallons that had fuel in them, suddenly there was fire outburst in the kitchen were the gallons were kept and Pam was trapped.
“His wife, Mercy, who had gone out earlier returned and saw smoke emitting from the house.
“She went into the house to save her husband, but was equally trapped in the inferno,’’ Alphonsus narrated.
She added that the couple left a four-month-old baby who had earlier been taken away by Pam’s mother at an earlier visit.
The Director of the State’s Fire Service, Caleb Polit, has confirmed the incident and expressed regret that the couple was burnt beyond recognition and the house razed before firemen could reach the scene.
NAN