Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
An early morning inferno occasioned by petrol tanker explosion, yesterday razed Ajebamidele community on Ondo Road in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State, leading to the death of about 15 people and razed 12 houses.
Ajebamidele, an agrarian community of less than 150 inhabitants and located on Ile-Ife/Ondo Road, shares boundary with communities in both Ondo and Osun states.
Daly Sun was informed by some victims that the inferno, which was aided by the harmattan weather, started at about 3.00am.
At about 7.00am when Daily Sun visited the scene of the incident, the tanker whose identity could not be ascertained was seen burning alongside some houses.
It was gathered that the tanker driver ran away when the fire started, apparently for fear of being attacked by residents of the community.
The fire, which started from the main road after the tanker entered into a deep pothole, later extended to the residences of the villagers.
The houses caught by the fire were completely razed, while inhabitants of the houses were caught unawares.
It was gathered that a couple, simply identified as ‘daddy and mummy Rose’ and their two children were affected by the inferno while many others whose identities were unknown were also affected.
Also, some residents, who narrowly escaped, sustained serious injuries.
Daily Sun gathered that residents of neighbouring communities, including Omifunfun and Olode, assisted to put off the fire and also rescued some victims.
The incident also caused heavy traffic on the road as vehicles could not pass the busy road for hours until the fire was put off.
Residents were as a result of the incident thrown into mourning as many of them were seen crying, even as they condemned the incident.
A community leader, Saka Olatunji, said the situation was aggravated by the non-availability of water in the village, lamenting that “water was not available to put off the fire. We went to neighbouring villages before we could get sufficient water.”
Also, he lamented that distress calls put to the state fire service was not attended to till the fire stopped.