Two persons were said to have lost their lives in a fire outbreak which occurred at Nine Energies filling station, Asero, Abeokuta.
It was gathered that the fire outbreak occurred when a medium tanker was offloading diesel into another tanker.
An eyewitness, who spoke under the condition of anonymity Vanguard that those who were feared dead were said to be the driver of the tanker that came to receive the diesel and his assistant.
The eyewitness said “the fire started around 10am and we all just saw the thick smoke coming from the filling station. Nobody could go near the filling station because of the intensity of the fire. The fire fighters from Ogun State Fire Service later came around to put out the fire.
“We later got to know that the fire started when a tanker that brought diesel was transferring it into another tanker. It was the tanker that was receiving the diesel that went up in flames while the one that brought the diesel hurriedly left the place to avoid being caught up. The two occupants of the tanker that was receiving the fuel were however badly burnt, they were rushed to the hospital by some people”.
Our Correspondent who visited the filling station, saw the burnt tanker as well as the fire fighters from Ogun State Fire Service who came to put off the fire.
Police officers and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) were also on ground to ensure orderliness.
The Director of Ogun State Fire Service, Engr Fatai Adefala while confirming the incident however said that those involved in the fire incident only sustained minor injuries and were rushed to Ogun State Hospital, Ijaye for medical treatment.
Adefala also explained that only one tanker was involved in the incident.
He said “I was there, only one tanker is involved and the fire started when the tanker was about to dispense the diesel into the underground tank, it was the pumping machine that ignited the fire and the two people injured only suffered minor injuries and were rushed to the state hospital”.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, SP Omolola Odutola also confirmed the fire incident, but said that she could not confirm whether there were casualties or not.
