* Promises aid to victims’ families
Several persons have reportedly been roasted and vehicles gutted in the late Friday evening fire outbreak along East-West Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The fire was reportedly caused by a petroleum tanker that fell and spilled its content on the road.
The content of the truck ignited heavy fire that engulfed many cars caught up in the perennial chaotic traffic synonymous with the area at the time of the accident.
Vehicles were reduced to ashes in a massive fire outbreak which occurred around 9:00 pm. It was learnt that at least four individuals have been confirmed dead in the fire incident.
Many more many victims were also burnt beyond recognition.
As Assistant Commissioner, ACP, I. Okoro led a team of Police and Divisional Police Officer of Eleme to the scene of the incident to ensure that criminals did not cash on the confusion resulting from the incident to rob victims on Friday evening.
The nearby Indorama Petroleum Fertilizer Company also deployed firefighters to combat the raging fire.
The accident left a scene of utter destruction, with charred remains of vehicles scattered across the expressway.
Photographs and videos of burnt cars abandoned by their owners as they ran to avoid being consumed inside their vehicles in the inferno are being circulated on the internet.
Eyewitnesses blamed the incident on the poor state of the Eleme section of the East-West road.
They also accused the Reynolds Construction Company, RCCG, of not putting adequate safety measures in place as it was busy constructing that section of the East-West road.
The all important road linking Ogoniland, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers States has been in a state of disrepair for 17 years.
Meanwhile, Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara, has visited the scene of the tanker explosion in Eleme Local Government Area.
The governor was accompanied by the Commissioner for Police, Olatunji Disu, and the Commissioner for Energy, Maximus Nwafor.
The inferno engulfed over 50 vehicles, with some bodies found burnt beyond recognition in cars, along the road, and in a nearby drainage.
Fubara, after inspecting the devastating site, directed security agencies to conduct a thorough assessment of the accidents to facilitate the provision of aid to victims’ families.
He said: “Yesterday around 7-8pm, we go information about a very serious inferno that was caused by a tanker conveying PMS.
“I got the information through the MD of Indorama and immediately alerted the security agencies. From what we are seeing this morning, it was not a very pleasant case.
“We recorded, from what I am seeing, a huge number of vehicles being destroyed and souls lost. I have already asked the security agencies to give us a full brief. So that we can come into the situation fully by seeing how much we can support the families of the bereaved and see how we can cushion the effect of the losses.”
He also lamented the deteriorating condition of the Eleme section of the East-West road.
“We all know the situation of this road; it is really really unfortunate. Most of our people when plying this road do so with caution,” he said.