Nigerian tanker fire claims more than 100
July 13, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than 100 people who rushed to scoop up fuel after a Nigerian petrol tanker tipped over yesterday were killed when the vehicle and pools of spilled oil caught fire.
Children were among those killed, while dozens more were badly burned, despite a warning from troops who arrived at the crash site that a blaze could ignite at any moment.
The tanker driving in the southern Rivers state swerved as it was trying to avoid a collision with three oncoming vehicles including a bus, said Kayode Olagunju, head of the state's Federal Road Safety Commission.
Shortly after the collision hundreds of people in the Ahoada area flocked to the scene to collect the spilling fuel.
Some troops who reached the crash site before the fire broke out told people to clear off.
However, many ignored the warning, said an official from the National Emergency Management Agency.
The state's information commissioner Ibim Semenitari said the fire had been put out. But Semenitari added emergency services were still trying "to clear the carnage."
"More than 100 people were killed in the inferno from the petrol tanker, while around 50 with severe burns have been hospitalized," she said.
Some of those taken to the hospital were burned beyond recognition, while others appeared treatable, said Geoffrey Ikogha a local chief in Ahoada, near the oil hub of Port Harcourt.
Children were among those killed, while dozens more were badly burned, despite a warning from troops who arrived at the crash site that a blaze could ignite at any moment.
The tanker driving in the southern Rivers state swerved as it was trying to avoid a collision with three oncoming vehicles including a bus, said Kayode Olagunju, head of the state's Federal Road Safety Commission.
Shortly after the collision hundreds of people in the Ahoada area flocked to the scene to collect the spilling fuel.
Some troops who reached the crash site before the fire broke out told people to clear off.
However, many ignored the warning, said an official from the National Emergency Management Agency.
The state's information commissioner Ibim Semenitari said the fire had been put out. But Semenitari added emergency services were still trying "to clear the carnage."
"More than 100 people were killed in the inferno from the petrol tanker, while around 50 with severe burns have been hospitalized," she said.
Some of those taken to the hospital were burned beyond recognition, while others appeared treatable, said Geoffrey Ikogha a local chief in Ahoada, near the oil hub of Port Harcourt.
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