About 10 people have been burnt to death in a tanker explosion.
The explosion which took place on Thursday, 20 October happened at Araromi on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Following The PUNCH report, Ahmed Umar, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps in Ogun state confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.
The Sector Commander specified that the explosion happened around Conoil in Araromi before Sagamu interchange on the expressway.
As stated by Umar, five vehicles were burnt in the incident. According to him, the vehicles that were involved in the explosion are; A Mack truck marked AKL 198 ZT; an Iveco truck with no registration number; a Mazda bus marked FFE 361 XB, an unmarked Howo truck and the Mack tanker.
Umar said that the victims of the explosion were burnt beyond recognition.
He linked the cause of the accident to speeding by the driver of the Iveco truck.
Speaking to the newsmen, Umar said, “Driver of the Iveco truck, who was travelling on top speed lost control and rammed into the tanker, which resulted to fire outbreak due to leakage,”
He pointed out that all those that died were in the Madza bus which was engulfed by fire.
“The suspected cause of the multiple crashes was excessive speed which led to the loss of control on the part of the Iveco truck and smashed the tanker body which resulted in a fire outbreak due to leakage. The Mazda bus got engulfed in the spark of the fire”, he added.
Speaking on the current situation of event, the Sector Commander said, “The rescue operation is still on and people involved were yet to be confirmed because a bus is also involved.
“The crash scene was cordoned off to avoid a secondary crash as traffic has been diverted.
“Men of Fire Service have arrived at the scene and effort is being made to put out the fire. Traffic has been temporarily diverted at Lufuwape U-turn to ease the traffic situation”.
Umar advised motorists to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations and to always consider other road users while driving.
