From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Two persons were burnt to death in Umunya community, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State when a tanker carrying a flammable product exploded and went up in flames.
The incident, Daily Sun gathered, happened at Odumodu Junction along the Awka – Onitsha Expressway. Two vehicles including the tanker were burnt.
According to sources, the tyre of the tanker said to be carrying gas burst while it was in motion and, as a consequence, rammed into a shuttle bus carrying passengers which resulted in an explosion.
Unfortunately, the two victims could not make it out of the vehicle. They were burnt to death by the inferno.
Chief Fire Officer in the state, Martin Agbili, an engineer, said that the officers and men of the fire service were immediately drafted to the scene and that they promptly put out the fire.
“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.
“By the grace of God, the fire was completely extinguished and no other casualties were recorded in the course of fighting the fire”, he said.