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Five persons were feared killed and over 100 vehicles destroyed following a fuel tanker explosion in Eleme local government area of Rivers State.
The explosion NewsBand gathered, occurred while the tanker, navigating the bad road, was hit by another heavy-duty vehicle, which immediately ignited an explosion.
The ensuing inferno engulfed several other vehicles along the road.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued by Nelson Chukwudi, spokesman to the governor, Fubara expressed his sadness at the gory sights that he saw when he visited the scene of the incident.
He visited the scene of the accident with the State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Uchechukwu Nwafor, on Saturday morning.
According to Fubara, he got a call from the Managing Director of Indorama Petrochemical and Fertiliser Company Limited in Eleme local government area, informing him of the incident, adding that he immediately called the security agencies and instructed that they visit the scene to take charge of the security of the area to avoid escalation of the situation.
Fubara said, “We are here to see for ourselves and get first-hand information of the incident of what happened yesterday night.
“About 7.30 – 8 pm, we got information of the gravity of the incident. I was told that it was caused by a tanker vehicle that was conveying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
“In fact, I got the information through the MD of Indorama, and I immediately alerted the security agencies to make sure they took control of the security situation in the area.
“And from what we are seeing this morning, it was not a pleasant case. We recorded a huge number of vehicles being destroyed and lives lost.
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“I have already asked the relevant agencies to give us a full brief so that we can come into the situation fully by seeing to how much we can support the families that are bereaved, and also cushion the effect of the loses, which I believe, is no fault of a good number of them.
“We all know the situation of this road. It is really unfortunate. Most of our people, when plying this road, should ply it with caution.
“I believe very strongly that this situation would have been avoidable if the motorists had behaved properly. But it is late already. The damage has happened. This is the situation we have found ourselves in. We will see how we can control the aftermath,” he added.
He said, “We are here to see for ourselves and get a first hand information on the incidence of what happened yesterday.
“And from what we are seeing this morning, it was not a pleasant case. We recorded a huge number of vehicles being destroyed and lost.
“I have already asked the federal agencies to give us a full brief so that we can come into the situation fully by seeing to how much we can support the families that are bereaved, and how we can cushion the effect of the loses, which I believed is no fault of a good number of them.
“We all know the situation of this road. It is very unfortunate…”
