Watch dramatic moment idiot lights a CIGARETTE at gas station

THIS is the terrifying moment a man’s smoke break almost turned deadly – when a dropped match set off an explosion at a petrol station.

CCTV footage shows the man lighting up near the pumps before a huge fireball erupts into the air, forcing him and his friends to sprint for their lives.

Flames tore upwards just feet from a trucker filling his cab with diesel, as chaos erupted across the area.

The shocking blast happened in Timon, a city in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Maranhão.

Incredibly, nobody was hurt – thanks to a quick thinking attendant who rushed in with a fire extinguisher and smothered the flames with seconds.

The blaze came perilously close to igniting a nearby motorbike, wedged between the group of drinkers and the lorry.

Witnesses said the group had been sitting in an outdoor café area beside the pumps, enjoying drinks moments before the explosion.

The incident unfolded on Monday night at the Petroflex filling station in Timon, which sits on the Parnaíba River, the natural border with the neighbouring city of Teresina in the state of Piauí.

Petrol station workers had reportedly warned customers to move away from the lorry as a safety precaution just before the driver began filling up.

But seconds later, disaster struck when the man sparked his lighter – with devastating results.

Fire chiefs in Timon later said the outdoor café area where the four people had been seated was not included in the petrol station’s fire prevention plan.

Authorities have now launched an investigation into safety procedures at the site.

Footage of the explosion has since gone viral online, with viewers stunned at how close the group came to tragedy.

One local said: “It’s a miracle no one was killed. The whole place could have gone up.”

The near miss in Brazil comes just months after a massive explosion tore through a petrol station in Rome, injuring more than 40 people.

That blast, in the city’s Prenestino district, happened when a tanker struck a pipe while manoeuvring, triggering a devastating fireball.

Police confirmed 45 people were hurt, including officers, with two men left with life-threatening burns.

Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri rushed to the scene to inspect the wreckage after the disaster.

One eyewitness told Italian outlet The Repubblica the scene was like something from a war zone.

“I was running – as the crow flies I was less than a hundred meters from the gas pump,” said Massimo Bartoletti.

“I saw the first explosion with the classic fireball. Shortly after came the second one which was hellish. A fiery mushroom cloud formed in the sky. It shook the whole area.

“It looked like hell – everything was flying in the sky.”

The force of the blast was so intense that parts of the fuel tanker were blown hundreds of metres away from the station.

Emergency crews worked through the night to douse the flames and evacuate surrounding buildings.

Residents described windows shattering and roofs shaking as the explosion ripped through the neighbourhood.

The Timon scare may have ended without injuries – but the chilling footage serves as a stark warning of how quickly a single spark can turn a quiet evening into a potential catastrophe.

As one firefighter put it after the blaze: “They’re lucky to be alive. That match could’ve killed them all.”