23 December 2015, Akure – A filling station, Giant IBK Oil and Gas petrol station and two petrol tankers were razed by fire on Ondo-Akure Expressway in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday.
According to an eyewitness, the fire which cause was still unknown as of the time of this report, started at about 1.40pm but no life was lost in the inferno.
Ten persons which included the drivers of the tankers and the workers of the filling station were said to have escaped unhurt.
When our correspondent visited the scene, men of the 323 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army were seen cordoning off the area to prevent the breakdown of law and order while men the state fire service personnel were busy putting off the fire.
The incident caused traffic gridlock on the expressway for several hours while some motorists took alternative routes to their various destinations.
One of the workers of the filling station, told our correspondent that the drivers and the assistants were offloading into the underground fuel dump of the filling station when the tankers burst into flame.
He said the cause of the fire outbreak was still a mystery to him, explaining that all of them in the station had to run away from the scene when the flame became uncontrollable.
But one of the drivers, who identified himself as Victor also narrated that he arrived the station from Lagos deport one hour before the incident occurred.
He said, “Immediately I came from Lagos, I parked the tanker inside the fuel station and I was expecting the workers to start offloading the fuel into their reservoir.
“But an hour later, I discovered that the tanker started burning and I don’t know what caused it , as of now, I am confused.”
However, a petrol dealer who identified himself as Lawal blamed the cause of the fire on the failure of the tanker’s owner to meet up with Department of Petroleum Resources safety precaution.
- Punch
