By Christopher Oji
Tragedy struck in the early hours of yesterday as two persons died, three others injured, 12 vehicles were burnt when a Fuel tanker exploded at while ascending Ilo-Awela axis in Ota, Ogun State. Also, shops and other properties worth millions of naira were burnt.
The driver of the truck was one of the victims together with a tricycle rider (Keke Marwa) which the tanker fell on. According to a witness, the truck driver trapped inside his vehicle was burnt beyond recognition before any help could come ,while the other victims were rescued.
The witness, Saliu Abass,”the driver of the loaded PMS tanker was coming from Lagos, heading to Ota as he approached the hill at the Ilo-Awela junction where the incident occured,the truck developed a mechanical fault , rolled back and fell on a side, spilling its content on the road which resulted into fire explosion in the process.
“property lost in the inferno, apart from the full loaded Mack tanker include, GGE 428 XP commercial yellow Volkswagen LT Bus, two TVS Tricycle, two Motorcycle Boxer, and three commercial luxurious busses”.
TRACE Area Commander, Mr. Ajibade Adekunle, said , the inferno has been subsequently put out by the combined efforts of the Ogun State fire service in collaboration with Lagos state fire service, LASEMA with assistance from security agencies including TRACE and FRSC.
According to Ajibade, TRACE and all the security and safety agencies have been on ground since the night and are still on standby monitoring the axis still day break for the cooling of the burnt vehicles as well as to remove all the carcass at the scene of the incident.
He said the scene of the incident has been condoned off by the security and safety agencies on ground monitoring the axis and redirecting vehicles to Sango under bridge to access Ota.
Meanwhile, the injured victims have been taken to the state hospital Ota, and according to TRACE Area Commander, efforts are still on to bag the bodies by safety agencies on ground, as well as clearing all the affected vehicles from the road and by the road side.
“The inferno has been put out and the accident scene condoned off by all the security and safety Agencies. Traffic redirecting so as to ensure no delay of movement on that route or another mishaps on that axis. Further report on the recovery and evacuation off the affected vehicles to be presented as unfold”, Ajibade conclude.
According Spokesman of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Southwest zone, Mr. Ibrahim Familoye, ” Two persons were burnt beyond recognition, three sustained various degree of burns, three BRT vehicles, three Okada, three tricycles, and one LT bus were burnt”.