No fewer than 10 yet-to-be-identified persons were burnt to death when a tanker laden with premium motor spirit, otherwise called petrol, on Thursday, fell and caught fire at Bauchi road junction, Jos North local government, Plateau State.
An eyewitness, Abubakar Musa, told Tribune Online that the unfortunate incident occurred at about 12:30 pm when the tanker driver lost control while negotiating a bend at the Bauchi road junction.
Musa stated that the tanker split its contents along the road, and the spillage was accompanied by a heavy explosion and fire, which caused pandemonium in the area.
He stated that at the time the incident occurred, some passenger vehicles were either loading or discharging passengers within the area, adding that quite a number of them were caught up in the inferno.
“I can tell you that a fully loaded passenger bus that was discharging passengers was caught up in the fire, and none of the passengers came out alive. There were other similar vehicles affected.
“The casualty was great; there were nothing less than twenty people that were burned beyond recognition and reduced to ashes, while twelve other bodies that could barely be recognized were brought out of the raging inferno,” he said.
The Deputy Secretary, Nigeria Aid Group Jamatul Nasir Islam (JNI), Mallam Abdulkareem Umar Isa, who was part of the rescue and evacuation team, said no fewer than 10 bodies were deposited at the mortuary of Plateau State Specialist Hospital.
He stated that the tanker driver lost control as a result of brake failure, forcing the tanker to fall at a T-junction, leading to spillage, adding that seven vehicles were completely burned down.
When contacted, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corp, Plateau Command, Alphonso Godwin, who confirmed the incident, said the command could not ascertain the number of casualties in the inferno due to the activities of some hoodlums who besieged the scene of the accident and attacked his men.
“Our men were at the scene of the accident, but we could not continue with the rescue operation due to the activities of the hoodlums that besieged the scene of the accident. The hoodlums burned one of our vehicles and smashed the windscreen of the ambulance we took there, while the driver escaped by a whisker. So we have to beat a retreat.” he said.
However, while an eyewitness claimed no fewer than 20 people died in the explosion, Plateau State Police Command in a statement signed by its Spokesman, DSP Alfred Alabo confirmed that 10 people lost their lives in the incident.
It pointed out that the Command received information from a good Samaritan that a tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) lost control, crashed and burst in flames along Bauchi Road Junction in Jos.
According to the statement, upon arrival by men of the command, it was discovered that ten yet-to-be-identified persons were burnt beyond recognition and their lifeless bodies later deposited at Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos, while three (3) Motor vehicles and two (2) tricycles affected by the fire were recovered from the scene.
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