Okey Sampson, Umuahia

A major tragedy was at the weekend averted in Ebem Ohafia community in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State when a tanker carrying Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) overturned and spilled its content on the road.

It was gathered that the truck, which was coming from the Umuahia end of the Umuahia/Ohafia Highway, was negotiating into a petrol station located along the busy Uzoakoli-Ohafia-Arochukwu road when it overturned and discharged its content on the road.

Sources at the area said property worth billions of cash would have gone into flames if not for the timely intervention of other road users and commercial water tank operators who supported efforts of residents and shop owners to ensure that there was no fire outbreak.

According to a source, “the tanker was entering the filing station when suddenly the part carrying fuel started falling off from the head and before you know it, the content started spilling on the ground.

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“Thank God that some shop owners and some commercial tanker drivers joined hands, using water and soap to pour on the surface of the road to avert what could have been a major disaster in the area.

“We do not have anything like fire service station here. So, it was God and self help that made us to contain the situation. We had to stop vehicles coming from opposite directions and warned people not to attempt scooping fuel with plastic buckets or anything.

“We are aware of the incident at Onitsha, Anambra State and Ogbete in Enugu State just happened recently.

“The way we build our houses here is that the houses are close to each other. You can imagine what would have happened if we had waited for a second.”

The source, who gave his name as Igwe, used the opportunity to call on the government to establish a fire service station in their area, stressing that communities in Abia North cannot always rely on Umuahia, the state capital, in the event of fire outbreak.