Unconfirmed report had it that over 20 people, who rushed to scoop
fuel from the fallen tanker, were burnt to death, while others,
including 10 persons, said to be on danger list in a mission hospital in
the area, sustained various degrees of burns.
The
incident, which happened at Kilometre 10 on the Aba/Ikot Ekpene Highway
last Friday, was said to have occurred when a Mack fuel tanker with the
registration number ABIA: XA 976 KKE, heading towards Aba, got stuck in
mud as a result of bad road condition.
The driver, in an attempt to move the tanker, hired a towing van.
And in the process of pulling it out, the tanker fell on its side and spilled the content.
Immediately the incident occurred, some villagers were said to have rushed to the scene to scoop fuel.
READ MORE AND SEE PICTURE OF BURNT VICTIMS
“Immediately the incident occurred, villagers
rushed to scoop fuel and despite the fact that I came out from my house
to warn them against the dangers inherent, they did not listen.
“Even
the driver of the tanker made every effort to dissuade the villagers
from scooping fuel from the tanker, but they turned a deaf ear.”
It
was gathered that some of the villagers were still scooping the product
when a commuter bus going to Aba from the Ikot Ekpene wanted to pass
through where the tanker had fallen.
In the process, the bus fell
into a crater on the road, the exhaust pipe touched a hard surface on
the road and ignited fire, which immediately spread to the nearby fallen
tanker and burnt everything within its range.
When Daily Sun
visited the scene, the fuel tanker was still on fire 24 hours after the
incident, even as the villagers decried the attitude of fire fighters
from Aba who they said, came when the fire was raging but went back.
DAILY SUN
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