Three out of the five injured victims of a petrol tanker fire on Christmas Day in Port Harcourt have died at the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
The five victims were evacuated to the hospital shortly after the incident.
The fire incident which occurred in the early hours of last Tuesday razed down several makeshift houses, stores and other properties worth millions of Naira.
Three persons had earlier lost their lives on the day of the incident after the tanker fell around Rumuola Junction and spilled its content which ignited fire.
Two other victims who suffered varying degrees of burnt were said to be in critical condition.
A relative of one of the deceased victims who do not want her identity revealed claimed that the hospital management demanded a sum of N30,000 before they could commence treatment.
“The fire burnt everything we had. None of us could escape with a pin. Yet, they asked me to get N30,000 before they could treat him. I could not get the money. And now he is no more,” the relative said.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) has promised to assist the family members of the victims, stressing that it was pained that such disaster befell the victims.
The association’s chairman, Emmanuel Inimgba, who made the promise urged petrol tanker drivers to pay serious attention to the maintenance of their vehicles in order to keep the roads safe at all times.
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