Seven Vehicles, Five Buildings, Others Destroyed In Tanker Explosion In Aba

By Ignatius Okpara, Umuahia – Residents of the Commercial City of Aba, Abia State, were Friday thrown into anxiety, as a tanker loaded with diesel exploded and destroyed property valued over N30 million along the ever busy Aba-Owerri road.

Although, no casualty was recorded in the incident, but over seven vehicles, three tricycles and five buildings located in the area, were destroyed by the inferno.

The truck sources indicated was about entering a filling station to discharge its consignment when its body fell off and landed on the road.

An attendant at the filling station, said: “the tanker was going into the opposite filling Station, but while the driver was trying to reverse; the body of the truck broke off and discharged its content on the road.

The attendant who did not want to be quoted in the print disclosed that an oncoming commercial bus ran over the spilled product which ignited the fire leading to explosion.

He said: “We suspected that the heat from the bus exhaust pipe ignited the fire and before you know what is happening, everywhere was on fire.

“It was too severe that efforts by sympathizers to stop it from spreading to buildings did not work until the fire service people arrived the scene”

AFRICAN EXAMINER further learnt that but for the timely arrival of the men of the state Fire Service, the entire area would have been razed down completely by the inferno.

Consumed beyond recognition by the fire were, seven cars including a 911 truck, three tricycles popularly known as (Keke Napep), as well as over five buildings.

Reacting to the incident, the Aba Unit Commander of the FRSC, Mrs. Okora Awassam, blamed the disaster on the carelessness of the truck driver, expressing worry on the attitude of heavy duty vehicles’ drivers on Nigerian roads.

She submitted that the Commission had initiated several programmes to enlighten drivers on the need to be safety conscious and ensure that their vehicles were in good condition before embarking on any trip.