Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Many persons have been reportedly killed after a petrol tanker exploded in Oshigbudu community in Agatu LGA of Benue state.
It was gathered that the tanker fully loaded with fuel exploded at the Oshigbudu-Obagaji junction after an accident on Sunday evening.
It caught fire when its contents spilled along the road and to a nearby filling station.
The number of casualties or extent of damage was not immediately clear but many structures were said to have been razed in the explosion.
It was also learnt that urgent assistance could not come because of how remote the area is, causing residents to resort to self-help.
Emmanuel Shior, executive secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, also told Channels TV that “many lives” were lost in the incident.
“The fire inferno at Oshugbudu in Agatu local Government, my local government of origin today (Sunday) which has claimed so many lives and destroyed properties yet to be quantified, is the chief of all the calamities that have fallen us this year,” he was quoted to have said.
“As I pray God to comfort the good people of Agatu and most especially those directly involved, over the lost, I wish to call on government at all levels and spirited individuals to come to our aids in order to drastically reduce the effect of the disaster on the people.”
Similar explosions have been a frequent occurrence in the country in recent months.
Earlier in March, some persons were reportedly killed after a petrol tanker rammed into some vehicles along the Nyanya-Keffi Nasarawa expressway in Abuja.
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