How fuel tanker inferno ruined us – Victims of Aba fuel explosion

UMUAHIA — FOR property owners and
residents of buildings on Aba-Owerri road
that was recently gutted by fire sparked by
fuel tanker explosion, life will never be the
same, at least for now as some of them lost
their lives’ savings during the incident.
At least few residential buildings, 14 shops
and about seven vehicles, as well as four
tricycles, among other things, were destroyed
by the inferno, leaving the owners devastated.
Altogether, the fire consumed property, goods
and other valuables worth several millions of
Naira.
The ugly fate befell them when a tanker laden
with diesel, fell and caught fire. The truck,
which also got burnt beyond repair, was said
to be entering a fuel station on the busy Aba-
Owerri road to discharge the diesel when the
tank of the truck pulled off and fell on the
median of the road, discharging its contents
which consequently caught fire on the road.
Cause of the inferno
South East Voice gathered that the actual
crisis set in when a commercial driver ignored
warnings by onlookers and residents of the
area not to pass through the spilled
inflammable contents. As he was driving
through the spilled liquid, the hot smoky
exhaust pipe of the commercial bus ignited
the fire which caused the havoc.
“We made efforts to stop oncoming vehicles
to avert the impending danger. But a
commercial driver refused to stop and tried to
drive through the spill. We suspected that the
heat from the exhaust pipe ignited the fire and
before we knew what was happening,
everywhere was in flame. The rage of the fire
was so fierce that some of us had to run for
safety until the Abia State fire service men
arrived the scene,” an eye witness lamented.
No life was lost
A resident of one of the affected buildings,
Emmanuel Kingsley thanked God for sparing
the lives of his brothers and other members
of his family. He described the fire incident as

(Vanguard)