A fire outbreak caused by punctured oil tanker along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road in Rivers State has led to the destruction of over 200 vehicles as many are feared dead. The incident which occurred at about 8:50pm on Friday night has since led to a major diversion from the now impassible route.
According to eye witness account, the incident took place right on the Aleto bridge along the East-West Road when a moving truck conveying cows and a tanker fully loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) attempted to cross each other at opposite directions on the same lane of the aged and belaboured bridge which got the tanker punctured through a scratch from the truck. The Oil Tanker continued its movement to some metres away before the spillage was detected. It was gathered that as fuel continued to gulp from the punctured hole, commuters and private car owners were advised to halt movement to avert possible explosion. Frantic efforts made to stop the spillage amounted to nothing as road users were afraid of the anticipated result and focused more on their safety while fuel continued to travel long distances on the road.
However, while some road users flee the road to safe havens, others stood around their vehicles and tricycles hoping that the situation will not get any worse but unfortunately, the fire came and connected every vehicle as far as the fuel had traveled and up to the stretch where vehicles and tricycles are queued up.
Commenting on the inferno, one Mrs. Sharon Osarobundo a recently married young lady from Eleme confirmed that she was a victim of the terrible ordeal as her husband’s Ford was burnt beyond repairs and all her wedding gifts which includes valuables worth millions were all consumed. She however gave credit to her husband who forced her out of danger as the reason she wasn’t among the skulls caught in the outbreak as she attempted to pick up as many of her properties as possible.
Video evidence shows that more than 200 vehicles and tricycles were affected by the fire outbreak with several persons burnt as proper count has not been yet made to ascertain the number of persons involved.
As at the time of filing this report, the men of the fire service were seen on ground giving reactive measures to the damage already done so as to de-escalate the burning and mitigate further damages.
Frank Nwaforbe
Reports from Port Harcourt