From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
No fewer than six persons have been confirmed dead, with four others sustaining various degrees of injuries, following a tanker explosion that occurred on Tuesday morning along the Presidential Boulevard, Kuto axis of Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Twelve vehicles and motorcycles were also razed when the 33,000-litre petrol tanker lost its brake while descending the Kuto overhead bridge, very close to a branch of GTB Bank.
Residents of the area scampered for safety, while parents rushed to a private school located not far from the scene of the incident to withdraw their children.
Men of the Federal and Ogun State Fire Services were at the scene of the incident to bring the raging inferno under control, while motorists were advised to ply an alternative route.
Speaking with newsmen during an on-the-spot assessment, the Ogun Commissioner for Special Duties, Femi Ogunbanwo, said that injured persons have been taken to the State Hospital in Ijaye and are being treated on government’s bill.
Also speaking at the scene, the Director of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Ige Olufolarin, confirmed the number of casualties, stressing that the accident was as a result of the petrol tanker’s brake failure.
The Ogun State Director of Fire Service, Fatai Adefola, who also spoke with journalists after the fire had been put under control, confirmed that a total number of six light trucks (cars), as well as six motorcycles, were burnt alongside the petrol tanker in the fire.