No fewer than 10 persons were burnt beyond recognition and many others injured after a fuel-laden tanker exploded in Jos, Plateau State on Thursday.
The tanker was said to have fallen around 12:30 pm and went up in flames while negotiating a bend at Angwan Rogo, along Bauchi Road junction.
In a statement by the Plateau State Police Command spokesman, Deputy Superintendent Alfred Alabo said 10 yet-to-be-identified persons were burnt beyond recognition.
He said efforts were on to restore the free flow of traffic, as well as identify the victims’ identities.
But eyewitnesses claimed over 20 bodies were burnt to ashes and 12 others were evacuated to the mortuary.
A witness, Mohammed Umar, said the driver lost control of the articulated vehicle, adding that the content spilled along the road as the tanker fell before the loud explosion was heard.
He said the explosion caused pandemonium in the area as there were commercial vehicles either loading or offloading passengers around the scene.
“I can tell you that a fully loaded passenger bus that was discharging passengers was caught up in the fire, and none of the passengers came out alive. There were other similar vehicles affected.
“The casualty was much; there was nothing less than 20 persons were burnt beyond recognition and reduced to ashes while 12 other bodies that can barely be recognized were brought out of the raging inferno”, he said.
Deputy Secretary, Nigeria Aid Group, Jamatul Nasir Islam, Mallam Abdulkareem Umar Isa, who was part of the rescue and evacuation team said no fewer than 10 bodies were deposited at the mortuary of Plateau State Specialist Hospital.
He stated that the tanker driver lost control as a result of brake failure, forcing the tanker to fall at a T-junction, which led to the spillage.
Isa said seven vehicles, three tricycles, and five motorcycles were burnt.
Sector Commander Federal Road Safety Commission, Plateau Command, Alphonso Godwin confirmed the incident but said the casualty figure could not be ascertained due to the activities of hoodlums who besieged the scene and attacked his men.
He said:” Our men were at the scene of the accident but we could not continue with the rescue operation due to the activities of the hoodlums that besieged the scene.
“The hoodlums burnt one of our vehicles and smashed the windscreen of the ambulance we took there while the driver escaped by a whisker. So we have to retreat”.
