Two people were burnt beyond recognition on Tuesday morning when a tanker loaded with diesel exploded at Odumodu Junction, along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway in Umunya, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.
An eyewitness told Orient Energy Review magazine that the driver of the tanker lost control, collided with a minibus shuttle and fell into the gutter before exploding.
“The driver lost control and made efforts to save the tanker but it fell into the gutter and diesel started flowing. The petrol was flowing from the tanker to the gutter when the thing burst into flames and started burning.
“It burnt some shops around there but it did not get to the filling station there because men of Anambra State Fire Service came and they are trying to quench the fire,” the eyewitness said on the phone.
Confirming the incident, the director of the Anambra State Fire Service, Dr. Martin Agbili, said two people died from the explosion. According to him, the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
He said the incident occurred when the tyre of the tanker bursted, resulting in a collision with a shuttle minibus. “We received a distress call at about 0840hours (8:40 am) on Tuesday 24th May 2022 that a tanker loaded with gas had a burst tyre which resulted in a collision with a shuttle bus that caused the fire explosion at Odumodu Umunya.
“We immediately deployed our firemen to move down to the fire incident scene to extinguish the fire.
According to the eyewitnesses and what we could confirm, two people were burnt to death.”
The director said that the men of the fire service completely extinguished the fire and there was no record of other casualties during the fire fighting.
“We left the fire incident scene at about 1130 hours (11:30 am),” Dr. Agbili said.
Be the first to know when we publish an update
