By Jimitota Onoyume & Ochuko Akuopha
SAPELE—Five persons died in the early hours of yesterday in an inferno when a petrol tanker fell on the Ologbo end of the Sapele-Benin express road.
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Bright Edafe, confirmed the deaths, saying two tankers, five trailers were among vehicles razed.
He said: “In the fire incident that occurred, we recorded five deaths, eight buses, two tankers, five trailers, two cars and one motorcycle were burnt completely.”
A resident in the area, who identified himself as Moses told the Vanguard that some persons rushed to the tanker, when it fell to scoop petrol, adding that fire suddenly erupted burning no fewer that five persons to death.
He blamed the deplorable state of the road on why the tanker fell.
The Ologbo portion of the Sapele-Benin road has been a nightmare for travellers since the rain set in this year as they were often trapped there for hours and sometimes for a whole day because of the deplorable state of the road.
Several appeals had been made to the Federal Government to urgently fix the bad portion to end the annual trauma for travellers during the rainy season.
Oborevwori mourns victims, blames incident on the bad state of FG roads
Meanwhile, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, yesterday, expressed sadness at the tanker explosion, which claimed the lives of some persons at Koko junction, on the Warri-Benin expressway, blaming the incident on the poor state of federal roads.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Festus Ahon, commiserated with the families of the deceased victims of the incident, calling on the Federal Government to expedite action in reconstructing failed portions of the road.
He, however, advised people “to refrain from the dangerous act of scooping fuel from a fallen tanker because of the highly inflammable nature of the product.
“In the early hours of today, we got information that an explosion occurred at Koko junction along the Warri-Benin expressway. On behalf of the government and people of Delta State, I commiserate with families of the victims who lost their lives to the inferno.
“This sad and unfortunate incident would have been avoided if the Federal Government had lived up to it responsibility of maintaining their roads.
“While I mourn the deceased, I use this medium to reiterate my earlier call on the Federal Government to save the lives of our people from these harrowing experiences.
“I also use this medium to advise our people to refrain from the dangerous act of scooping fuel from a fallen tanker because of the highly inflammable nature of the product.”
Delta CP commiserates with families of deceased
Also, state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wale Abass, has commiserated with the families of the five victims who lost their lives in yesterday’s fire explosion.
The CP in a statement by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, said: “In the early hours of today 1/10/2023 0200hrs, the command recorded a tragic incident where a tanker laden with PMS being driven towards Benin along Warri-Benin Road fell down upon getting to Ugbenu Koko Junction.
“Its content spilled into the nearby swamp and the spillage attracted couple of youths who took advantage of the incident and started scooping the fuel into jerry cans and other containers.
“While they were at it, an explosion erupted and the fire from the explosion engulfed the whole area.
“At the event of this outburst, the scene was visited and bodies of the victims were evacuated to Oghara General Hospital’s mortuary. “
Source: Vanguard