Twelve vehicles burnt in Ibadan petrol tanker explosion, 24 die in accidents
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- Category: Travel & Transport
- Published on Thursday, 15 March 2012 11:23
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A fire incident, a road accident and a kerosene explosion across the country have left 24 people dead with property worth millions of naira destroyed in the aftermath of the incidents.
Twelve vehicles were burnt in the fire incident that happened in the early hours of Wednesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital following a tanker explosion on the Ojoo-Iwo Road Expressway.
Fresh cases of kerosene explosion in Edo and Delta states have claimed the lives of 11 persons.
Besides, 11 others are receiving treatment at the Accident and Emergency ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for burns they sustained from the explosions.
The deaths were recorded between February and the early part of this month with nine of them recorded at the UBTH, while two were recorded in unidentified hospital.
Co-ordinator-General of Save Accident Victims Association of Nigeria (SAVAN), Dr Eddy Ehikhamenor, said 90 per cent of the victims of kerosene explosion incidents were brought from Delta State to the UBTH.
Dr Ehikhamanor advised Nigerians to learn and know how to test kerosene to avoid adulterated kerosene, which he said was responsible for the explosions.
He named the method of testing to include visual, volatility, sensory and out-door or light testing.
The visual method of testing, according to him, involved observing the colour of kerosene, adding that if the product was colourless, then it was good product, but if it was yellowish or gold, then it is adulterated kerosene.
Ehikhamenor also said volatility method of testing involved putting a little drop of kerosene on the human skin to observe it. He said if it dries up leaving white patches it then meant the kerosene was adulterated. If it failed to dry quickly, it meant that the kerosene was good.
Dr Ehikhamenor explained that the sensory method entails perceiving the odour, and that if the odour was choking, then the kerosene was adulterated, while the light testing required dropping a little quantity of kerosene on a piece of paper and putting fire. He said if it catches fire immediately, then the kerosene had more fuel.
In another development, eight people, among them a nine-month-old baby, were crushed to death on Monday evening by a tipper in a an auto accident at Agba dam road in Ilorin metropolis.
The accident also left several people injured and property worth millions of naira destroyed.
An eyewitness account revealed that the tipper conveying concrete blocks, moving towards Pipeline/CBN quarters, had a break failure while the driver lost control at a sharp bend along Agba Dam.
The source said the heavy lorry rammed into an oncoming vehicle before ramming into the row of shops at the adjacent road, killing three of the vehicle’s passengers instantly and five occupants of the affected shops.
It was also gathered that the mother of the nine-month-old baby, who is a tailoring apprentice in one of the affected shops, made narrow escape and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital.
Investigations also revealed that it took the intervention of armed policemen, who prevented the driver of the lorry from being lynched by angry mob who had gathered.
Speaking with journalists, one of the affected shop owners who did not want his name mentioned, attributed his narrow escape to God, calling on government to assist families of the deceased and those who lost property in the incident.
He said they had been unable to feed and sustain their families since the incident happened, adding that their means of livelihood had been destroyed.
The affected shops included tailoring, welder, engine oil shops and a drinking joint, popularly called ‘Nigeria’.
Also, five people have been confirmed dead in an auto accident that occurred on Tuesday on the Benin-Auchi road.
Several other passengers who reportedly sustained varying degrees of injury were said to have been taken to different hospitals, including Central Hospital, Sapele Road, Benin City, for treatment.
The bodies of the five dead passengers have reportedly been deposited at the morgue of Our Hospital, Ikpoba Hill, Benin City.
It was learnt that the accident involved a 16-seater commuter bus, belonging to Big Joe Motors and an articulated lorry. The accident occurred by the Okuo Oil Palm Estate, on the Benin-Auchi road.
The bus said to be heading for the northern part of the country reportedly collided with a trailer while overtaking another vehicle. (Tribune)
