Carnage: Fire Service in spotlight as oil-tanker crash kills many in Rivers, Ogun

BY ORIAKU IJELE

The impact of poor response time to emergencies, especially with Nigeria’s 123 year old Federal Fire Service came to the fore at the weekend following the deaths of many Nigerians in Rivers and Ogun states.

Sunday Times gathered that tens of lives may have been lost as a result of road crashes involving oil-laden trucks in separate accidents on Friday and Saturday, deaths blamed largely on the poor response time of the officials of the Federal Fire Service in both states.

In Rivers, where the effect of the carnage was monumental, the paper gathered that efforts to get the attention of the Federal Fire Service in a timely fashion proved colossally abortive as the inferno resulting from the crash raged.

According to a witness, “You can imagine. For hours, no fire service, and this incident happened very close to Port Harcourt, where help is supposed to come promptly”.

The devastating incident happened on Friday night along the Eleme axis of the road, which has long been neglected, increasing motorists’ risks.

Reports suggest that the tragedy was triggered when a tanker, navigating the dilapidated road, was hit by another heavy-duty vehicle, igniting flames and an explosion.

The ensuing inferno engulfed more than 50 vehicles on the road at the time, with some occupants trapped and unable to escape the fire, which spread rapidly.

One of the videos posted on Facebook by Egwunyenga Victor Ifechukwu showed up to 11 vehicles, including four trucks, on fire.

The video had a narrative by a man who said the fire almost engulfed a car he was in with his friend.

“This is colossal damage,” he said over the video, showing vehicles engulfed in flames.

Distraught voices could be heard in the background, decrying the massive destruction they were witnessing. Some were shocked to see such a scale of destruction.

In a related development, one person was confirmed dead, while two others sustained injuries on Saturday in a gas tanker explosion at Ita -Oshin, Abeokuta on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.

Mrs Florence Okpe, Spokesperson, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun Sector Command, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.

Okpe said the incident occurred at 4.10p.m.

She explained that six people were involved in the incident, all male adults, saying that one person who was the motor boy, died in the incident while two people were injured.

“A total of five vehicles were involved, including two Nissan cars with registration numbers AAN 544 YC, LSD 993 CY, a Sino tanker marked T23771 LA, a Micra marked GDB 841 XR and a Honda CRV without registration number,” she said.

The FRSC spokesperson explained that the tanker suffered brake failure after which it lost control and crashed into the road barricade, then went up in flames.

She added that some vehicles and shops around were burnt.

“The deceased was deposited at the State General Hospital morgue, Abeokuta, and the injured victims were taken away by the families.

“FRSC operatives are still on ground managing the traffic situation,” she said.

In Rivers, after inspecting the devastating site, Governor Fubara directed security agencies to conduct a thorough assessment of the accidents to facilitate the provision of aid to victims’ families.

According to the governor, “From what we are seeing this morning, it was not a very pleasant case,” said the governor who said he was informed about the fire around 8 pm on Friday.

“I got the information through the MD of Indorama (a petrochemical company located along the road) and immediately alerted the security agencies.

“We recorded, from what I am seeing, a huge number of vehicles being destroyed and souls lost. I have already asked the security agencies to give us a full brief so that we can come into the situation fully by seeing how much we can support the families of the bereaved, and how we can cushion the effect of the losses.”

Fubara lamented the deteriorating condition of the Eleme section of the East-West road.