INFERNO: 11 Vehicles, including petrol tankers burnt

 

No fewer than 11 vehicles, including petrol tankers went up in flames Tuesday night near the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mega Station on Ojoo road, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. But there were no casualties. 

Many residents living around Ojoo, Idi-Ape, Akobo and environs were woken up by deafening sounds of multiple explosions and thick balls of fire.

An eyewitness account said as of 3.15am, residents still ran helter-skelter to escape the raging inferno, while many watched in awe.The fire was said to have started at about 2.20am in front of the NNPC Mega station located close to General Gas Junction on Iwo-Ojoo road.

Also burnt were some electricity poles and kiosks. Few metres away from the mega station were two filling stations - Sycams and Keemrat which, many feared would have claimed a lot of casualties if they had caught fire.

Scores of sympathisers gathered at the scene yesterday discussing the incident, while some roadside traders, whose kiosks were burnt counted their losses.
Also, men of the Oyo State fire service deployed five vehicles to put off the fire.The NNPC Sales Manager in charge of Oyo and Osun Depot, Mr. Adewale, and Station Manager, Victor, disclosed that a lorry carrying coal from Ojoo collided with an NNPC truck.They alleged that the NNPC truck, laden with petrol and parking out of the highway, collided with coal-laden lorry that was crossing in the process of dodging the lorry that was trying to make a U-turn.
Adewale said: “The petrol spilled on the road and caught fire. That was how the fire spread to others. It also caught up with a lorry that was fully loaded with diesel.”Adewale alleged that men of the fire service did not come until 3am.
He, however, praised the fire officers for putting up their best when they eventually came.