Two Petrol Tankers Razed in Gas Explosion Incident at Awka

By Praise Chinecherem

Two petrol tankers of 33,000 litres on Sunday went up in flames following a gas explosion opposite a Catholic Church in Amansea, Anambra State.

The tragic incident reportedly occurred around 5pm when a petrol laden truck developed fault and another one was brought to offload the content.

AnambraDaily gathered that both tankers suddenly caught fire during trans-loading of inflammable content from the faulty tanker to the other tanker.

Confirming the incident, Chief Fire Fighter, Engr Martin Agbili attributed the cause to the mistake from the pump operator, adding that no life was lost in the incident.

He said, “At about 1700hrs of today 03-07-2022, Anambra State Fire Service, Awka, Nigeria received a distress call of fire outbreak in two (2) petrol tankers of 33,000 litres opposite At Anthony’s Catholic Church, Amansea.

“Immediately, we deployed our fire truck and Firefighters to the fire scene and fought the fire to standstill with our chemical foam compound and there was no loss of life.

“The avoidable fire outbreak emanated during the trans-loading of the petrol from the faulty tanker to another tanker without the presence of Fire Service to be on standby. 

“The mistake of the pump operator caused the fire outbreak. The road is now free for motorists to move on. We left the fire scene back to our fire station at about 1930hrs.”