Four persons were said to have been burnt to death
while two others were injured when a loaded fuel tanker fell and exploded
around Fidiwo area along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway on Tuesday.
The four victims were said to have been trapped
inside the fuel tanker which fell on its side, and caught fire, along with
another tanker it scrubbed on the side.
Witnesses said the driver of the exploded tanker was
trying to overtake the other fuel tanker. Both tankers had a side-swept impact,
with the driver of the exploded tanker losing control of his vehicle. His
tanker fell on its side and exploded.
The accident occurred around 2.28pm.
According to the nation report, fire fighters
battled for over two hours to put out the inferno, arising from the two
tankers. One of them was however saved.
Mr Clement Oladele, the Sector Commander, Federal
Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun gave the number plate of the exploded
tanker as FFA 752 XA.
“The incident occurred when the burnt tanker with
registration number FFA 752 XA brushed the other tanker by the side while
overtaking it.
“This resulted to loss of control and subsequent
crash with the resultant impact of fire outbreak in both vehicles,” he
said.
The sector commander said that the timely
intervention of the men of the fire service saved the second tanker but the
other one could not bé saved as it got burnt completely.
Oladele said efforts were still being made to
offload the content of the saved tanker, because it was already leaking, due to
the impact of the accident.
He, however, said that only one corpse was seen at
the scene of the accident.
Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer,
Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) said four persons were
trapped inside the burnt tanker and were burnt beyond recognition. Two other
persons escaped with varying degrees of burns, he said.
“The TRACE personnel on ground at the scene of the
accident said four persons died in the tanker inferno.
“They told me the four victims were trapped inside
the ill-fated tanker. Two others were also said to have been injured.
Source The nation
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