Three persons die as an NNPC Tanker Explodes

Three people have died in Ibadan, Oyo State, with five others injured from burns when a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petrol tanker trying to offload fuel suddenly exploded and caught fire at Orogun Junction on Ojoo Expressway. 

This is how The Sun Newspapers reports it:

The three victims were said to have been burnt to death as the fuel flew into the area and exploded, it burnt property and human beings found along its path. Two Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and about eight shops in the area were also torched by the raging inferno. The situation got out of hands when the state’s fire service that arrived at the scene ran out of water and had to wait for another vehicle for replenishment.

While still waiting for water, the fire went wild and engulfed the surrounding shops and some other houses around including some vehicles parked along the road. The five people who sustained serious burns were rushed to hospital in an Oyo State ambulance. The incident occurred beside Energy Filling Station at Orogun junction along Iwo Road/Ojoo Expressway around 11.30am.

Heavy smoke covered the area as most shops and car owners who parked their vehicles in some perimeters close to the scene made frantic efforts to remove them. An eyewitness, Dr. Ayo Osisanwo, told newsmen that the tragedy started when an NNPC truck was offloading fuel from another NNPC truck which had mechanical fault and had broken down in the middle of the road. According to him, the inferno started in the process of technical transfer of the fuel to an empty tanker when the loaded tanker suddenly caught fire.

The situation caused heavy traffic snarl as only one lane was used by motorists, just as policemen and Civil Defence operatives had difficult time controlling the traffic. Hoodlums also took advantage of the situation to steal property of victims who had fled the scene to safety.

Another eyewitness who does not want his name in print, said:”An NNPC tanker was trying to offload fuel from the other one that fell off by the roadside. Suddenly, the loaded one caught fire and the driver tried hard to drive it away from the one already burning. He hurriedly abandoned the vehicle after the rescue”.