At least five people have died and several others injured after a tanker conveying petroleum products fell in the Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. Confirming the incident yesterday, the spokesman of the Kwara Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said the fire was handled by the fire service of the Jebba Paper Mill.
Adekunle said the incident occured during the weekend; about one hour and thirty minutes after the tanker with the inflammable product fell and went up in flames when people were scooping the product, adding that the petroleum products were ignited by a fire from some residents cooking outside.
An eyewitness stated that some of the product found its way into the gutter and was ignited as it flowed along by a fire from some residents cooking outside where two children that went to fetch water were torched along the way, killing one in the process. The second is still battling for life in the hospital; A man and about three people were also burnt to ashes.
“It was the next day that we discovered their charred bodies. But we have about five deaths while around seven people have been injured so far,” he said.
An eyewitness revealed that some of the victims who were rushed to the hospital later died while others were transferred to UITH in Ilorin because of the severity of their burns.
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