A petrol tanker fire has destroyed shops, vehicles and goods around Oluku Market in Edo State, leaving residents with burns and an unconfirmed death toll.
The tanker fell and spilled fuel along the Benin-Lagos Expressway in Ovia North-East Local Government Area on Thursday, October 15. The fire spread through the market and adjoining drainage channels, where eyewitnesses said petrol had collected.
Injury figures differed between accounts. Punch reported 11 people injured, including a pregnant woman, while a News Agency of Nigeria report carried by Premium Times said 10 injured victims were taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
Punch reported five people feared dead, but Edo FRSC commander Preye Ezekiel Bedford said he had not received confirmed information on fatalities. The NAN account also said the exact death toll had not been confirmed.
Eyewitnesses told NAN that residents and passers-by had gathered to scoop spilled petrol before the fire. One described a spark after a motorcyclist left with a leaking fuel container. That account has not been established as the official cause of the blaze.
At the teaching hospital, Chief Medical Director Idia Ize-Iyamu led emergency teams treating victims in the accident and emergency and burns units, according to the NAN report.
Police, military personnel, the FRSC and fire services were deployed to the scene. Bedford told Punch that responders were still tackling the remaining fire and clearing debris on Thursday evening.
Bedford warned against scooping fuel from fallen tankers and said the FRSC would step up public education through town hall meetings, churches and other community platforms.
Sources: Premium Times, Punch, Channels TV
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