Traders in Onitsha have blamed the level of casualties in the tanker fire incident on neglect by both the state and federal governments insisting that there were no safety and fire fighting gadgets put in place for rapid response in the case of emergency
They further lamented that a town like Onitsha should have had the best of fire fighting equipment on hand to reduce the number of casualties recorded in the incident.
It was as a result of this that the governor was alleged to have escaped being attached by the irate traders
This is coming on the heels of condolences from Seen Ifeanyi Ubah of Anambra South Senatoral District who in a statement described the incident as unfortunate and and available accident.
“It is unfortunate that our people were roasted in the fire incident and billions of naira have been lost by our people to the fire incident.
“I and the people of Anambra South Senatoral District use this medium to extend our heart felt sympathy to our brothers and sisters who lost their relatives in that incident.
“I also call on the Federal government to put in place measures aimed at preventing such an incident in future because Onitsha is not for the South East alone but for Nigeria in general and this is the get way to the South East and South South and also a link to the North’ he said.
The governor who visited the commercial city at about 9.20am, for on the spot assessment of the disaster, was said to have stopped at Upper Iweka.
The visibly angry traders who gathered in their hundreds, said the governor was lucky to have restricted his visit after beingy informed about their plans.
saying they were ready to confront his security details.
Speaking to reporters one of the victims, Chukwuka Okeke, a neighbor to the woman that lost her baby, described the tragedy as unfortunate but avoidable.
He said it was not up to twenty minutes he chatted with her that she was consumed in the inferno.
“We were in our shops when I got the call that there was fire was burning at Upper Iweka. Though we saw smoke going up from a distance, nobody could believe it would extend to this place.
“For over 3 hours, we were perceiving the smell of fuel mixed with gas from the tanker as it flowed through the drainage until the whole thing went up in flames.
“The woman had already rushed out of the shop with her baby when she suddenly went back. But she suddenly slipped and fell inside the gutter which was already in flames.
Okeke said the woman whose husband also owns a shop in the city, just had the baby early this year after 16years of marriage.
“She got married in 2003, but just had her first baby early this year. It’s really a tragedy.
Meanwhile, the confirmed the death of a man who was burnt to death after being caught up with the fire in his shop upstairs.
He also said a lady sustained leg injuries after jumping down from a storey building.
He said, “During the course of the fire, an unidentified woman who was carrying a baby ran out of her shop but was reported to had screamed that she forgot something inside the shop.
“She ran back immediately to pick up whatever it is that she forgot inside her shop but on running out again, the whole place has been filled with smoke.
“She couldn’t find her way again and then fell inside the drainage where both the PMS and fire was flowing through and she was caught up which burnt her and her baby beyond recognition.
“At Ochanja market, a man was caught up with the fire upstairs and he was burnt to death too.
“Another man who managed to run out from his house but became unconscious was rushed to Menax Hospital by the Red Cross Ambulance.
“There was a lady that jumped down from a one storey building and sustained bruises in her legs but she was immediately attended to by the Red Cross.
“Others whose shops and properties were damaged including seven Red Cross Volunteers were giving a special Psychological First Aid.”
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
