The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has described as sad the fire incident caused by a tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol which claimed many lives and destroyed several vehicles.
The governor who stated this on Saturday while assessing the level of damage caused by the unfortunate incident decried that such an incident would have been avoided.
Recall that multiple explosions from fuel tankers at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State have led to the burning of not less than 100 vehicles and an unspecified number of casualties.
It was gathered that a tanker loaded with petroleum products went up in flames engulfing other tankers and numerous vehicles caught in a traffic gridlock.
Though some sources estimated that over three hundred vehicles were consumed by the fire, others reported over a hundred.
As of press time, the actual number of casualties remains uncertain.
Sources say, many individuals trapped in their vehicles fell victim to the inferno.
Reports indicate that the incident was caused by reckless driving and the construction company responsible for the Eleme section of the road.
Meanwhile, the fire was said to have burned for several hours before being put out by multiple fire service trucks, facilitated by support from Indoroma Petrochemical.
According to witnesses loud explosions and cries for help were heard, indicating the severity of the situation.
A resident revealed that, “I heard a very loud sound about 20 minutes ago, and people were shouting. The sound came from the Petro-Chemical company area. So when I came out I saw a thick smoke with fire from a distance.”
Another eyewitness, identified as Segun Owolabi, described the aftermath of the tragedy, saying, “I saw four dead bodies burnt. Some may have been in the bushes because many ran away. I saw a whole stretch of vehicles burnt down, trailer burnt down. There seems to be a truck carrying substances and it was as if it had a collision with another vehicle that may have ignited the fire. Over 20 vehicles burnt down and several people trapped.”
