There was pandemonium in the Lokogoma phase 1 area of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital when a fuel-laden tanker caught fire while discharging its content at a fuel filing station Thursday.
Daily Trust gathered that the incident, which happened around 3 pm, injured one person and caused traffic gridlock for hours.
An eyewitness said the fuel-laden tanker exploded shortly thereafter entering the filling station.
“We saw dark smoke billowing at the filling station shortly after the tanker negotiated into the filling station.
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“Initially, we thought that it was the filling station that caught fire but on getting there, we noticed that it was the tanker that was on fire.
“In the process of trying to put out the fire, the explosion hit the director of the fuel station, burning a part of his body in the process”, said Adebayo Adeyemi who owns a shop a few metres from the scene.
Several shop owners, including filling station operators around the area said the inferno would have caused serious destruction save for the timely intervention of the security agents and kind-hearted individuals.
However, many sympathisers commended the driver for bravely driving the tanker out of the filling station to the main road before the firefighters, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), police officers and other security agents arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, the incident caused traffic gridlock for hours as motorists were made to negotiate through one lane of the main driveway in the area.
The police spokesperson in the state, William Aya, said no life was lost in the said incident.
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