20 die in Abia scooping fuel from fallen tanker

20 die in Abia scooping fuel from fallen tanker this incident happened
during the weekend at Umuokpo in Amairinabuo Community of Obingwa
Local Government Area of Abia State when a fuel tanker exploded,
killing several people and injuring others.

Unconfirmed report had it that over 20 people, who rushed to scoop
fuel from the fallen tanker, were burnt to death, while
others,including 10 persons, said to be on danger list in a mission
hospital in the area, sustained various degrees of burns.

However, another source said only three persons had been confirmed dead.
The incident, which happened at Kilometre 10 on the Aba/Ikot Ekpene
Highway last Friday, was said to have occurred when a Mack fuel tanker
with the registration number ABIA: XA 976KKE, heading towards Aba, got
stuck in mud as a result of bad road condition.

The driver, in an attempt to move the tanker, hired a towing van.
And in the process of pulling it out, the tanker fell on its side and
spilled the content.

Immediately the incident occurred, some villagers were said to have
rushed to the scene to scoop fuel.
Chief Friday Erengwa, a community leader in whose house frontage the
tanker fell, told Daily Sun: "Immediately the incident occurred,
villagers rushed to scoop fuel and despite the fact that I came out
from my house to warn them against the dangers inherent, they did not
listen.
"Even the driver of the tanker made every effort to dissuade the
villagers from scooping fuel from the tanker, but they turned a deaf
ear."

It was gathered that some of the villagers were still scooping the
product when a commuter bus going to Aba from the Ikot Ekpene wanted
to pass through where the tanker had fallen.
In the process, the bus fell into a crater on the road, the exhaust
pipe touched a hard surface on the road and ignited fire, which
immediately spread to the nearby fallen tanker and burnt
everythingwithin its range.
When Daily Sun visited the scene, the fuel tanker was still on fire 24
hours after the incident, even as the villagers decried the attitude
of fire fighters from Aba who theysaid, came when the fire was raging
but went back.
http://sunnewsonline.com