42 thousand liters of petrol, worth 28.9 million kwacha at the current pump price, have been consumed by fire after a tanker caught fire early this morning along the Songwe – Karonga road in Karonga district.

Karonga Police Spokesperson Enock Livasoni said the vehicle bearing registration number T 879 DSL / T 459 DMD developed a binding fault which resulted in the fire outbreak.

Scores of people from around Mwakamogho village where the accident occured watched helplessly from a far as the fuel load, meant to be delivered in Lilongwe, was being consumed by fire.

Livasoni explained that the driver, Michael Gorge Mwapashe, a Tanzanian has survived without injuries.