Several people were on Sunday feared dead in Oshigbudu
community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State due to a tanker
explosion.
An eyewitness said a fully-loaded tanker conveying petroleum
products fell at the Oshigbudu-Obagaji junction and poured its content which
spread to a filling station along the Oweto axis and later caught fire.
The eyewitness explained that the incident which happened in
the afternoon destroyed major parts of Oshigbudu community.
The eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Sunday
said, “The tanker fell down at a junction in Oshigbudu and while the contents
gushed out it spread to a filling station where it exploded.”
When asked about the casualty, he said, “We can not
ascertain the number of lives lost but some people were caught up in the
inferno.”
Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the local government, John
Ikwulono, who confirmed the incident also said many people might have lost
their lives in the tanker explosion.
He said, “At the moment, we can not ascertain the number of
death now, this thing (tanker explosion) happened at Ubagaji/Oshigbudu
junction.
“The tanker was conveying fuel and fell down at that particular
junction and fuel gushed out of the tanker and it spread to a nearby fuel
station towards Oweto and the filling station caught fire and several houses
around the area got burnt.”
Ikwulono added, “People who were not able to escape also got
burnt,” adding, “The situation is still on, it is a very terrible thing”.
The Vice-Chairman said the situation was compounded due to
the non-availability of fire service in the local government.
“There is no fire service in Agatu and the only one we have
in the zone, (senatorial district) is in Otukpo (which is about one hour drive
to Oshigbudu) and when we contacted them, they said their vehicle has broken
down.”
Ikwulono said that the people had to resort to the use of
manual efforts (using water and detergent) to put out the fire, but added that
“the damage has already been done”.
The council vice-chairman however called on the State
Emergency and Maintenance Agency as well as the National Emergency and
Maintenance Agency to come to their aid.
When contacted, the State Fire Service Director, Donald
Ikyaaza, said that he just received the report but explained that the area
(Oshigbudu) is very far from the state capital.
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