Eight people were killed while scooping petroleum after a petrol-laden tanker fell and spilled its contents on the Ore-Benin Motorway in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
While several were claimed to have killed in the Sunday evening event, Ezekiel Son-Allah, Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ondo State, said on Monday that eight people were burned to death as a result of the explosion.
He said that the white petrol tanker with no registration number lost control due to overspeeding.
Following the incident, some residents of a nearby village attacked the scene and began scooping fuel spilled off the fallen truck, according to Son-Allah.
Unfortunately, the tanker burst, killing eight people who were scooping fuel.
According to the FRSC chief, the tanker and motor kid escaped the scene unharmed.
He stated that the FRSC rescue squad had deposited the victims’ remains to the General Hospital mortuary in Ore.
This is the latest in a series of petrol tanker explosions in Nigeria. Fuel accidents are widespread in Nigeria, and they usually occur when tanker drivers crash on badly maintained highways or when citizens try to syphon oil or petrol from pipelines.
In June 2021, five persons were killed and 13 others were injured in Lagos after a tanker burst due to a gas leak.
In April 2022, a fuel tanker derailed, spilled its contents, and caught fire in central Nigeria’s Benue state, killing 12 people and destroying hundreds of dwellings.
In January of that year, a tanker explosion in the southern city of Agbor killed four people and injured 11.
