Festus Ahon
04 August 2012, Sweetcrude, UGHELLI – AS families of those who lost their lives in the recent fuel tanker fire at Okogbe in Rivers State still grapple with the devastating effects of the incident, indigenes of Okorikpere community, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State, Friday invaded the site of a fuel tanker accident, along the East-West road to scoop fuel.
Sweetcrude learnt that it took the intervention of men of the Joint Military Task Force, JTF and police officers from the Orerokpe police division to scare the villagers carrying buckets, Jerrycans and other containers away from the scene and prevent them from scooping the fuel that was gushing out of the tanker with registration number XB119BKW.
According to a source, the tanker which was heading to Warri from Ughelli fell into the concrete drain at about 7am after the driver lost control. The tanker veered off the road and collided with a stationary Audi 80 car with registration number AQ 82 KPE.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was the security agents that cleared traffic gridlock that followed the accident, adding that part of the road was barricaded to facilitate the evacuation of the fuel into another tanker.
Chief Daniel Okukpe, President General of the community said he contacted the State Security Service, SSS at Orerokpe, the police and the JTF to come to their rescue. As at the time of filing this report, fuel was still being loaded into the other tanker.
