Five people were burnt to death and over 70 vehicles including heavy-duty trucks were destroyed following a multiple explosion at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State on Friday night.
It was gathered that a tanker laden with petroleum products exploded and busted into flames, affecting other vehicles in the area which is known for its gridlock.
The incident started at about 9:15pm adjacent to the Indorama Petrochemical Company located along the Akpojo-Onne axis of the East-West Road leading to some critical national assets.
According to an eyewitness who identified himself as Baridi, the incident that occurred on Friday night followed a petrol-laden tanker that collided with a heavy-duty truck, spilling its contents and bursting into flames.
He said the fire spread to a long stretch of vehicles plying the Akpajo-Onne Road following the gridlock which is a usual occurrence on the road now under construction.
Baridi said, “You know that because of the bad road, there is no alternative route so many vehicles were caught in the fire.
“Some people inside their vehicles who tried to escape the fire were trapped in the fire and died.”
A motorist driving on the road at the time identified as Precious said, “I was approaching Akpajo bridge when I saw a thick hold-up. While I and other drivers tried to move further we saw people running and shouting fire, fire.
“So it was difficult for me even to reverse my vehicle. We meandered and packed somewhere. Only for us to come back and see that more than 100 vehicles were burnt. There are people burnt in their vehicles and some people running were also caught in the inferno.”
He blamed the tragedy on the reconstruction of the road which, according to him, had worsened the gridlock.
“Yes they are working on the road which is good but they should also create access. Not the way they are doing it. First, they should be fast about it and secondly, the contractor should know that vehicles are using the road. Otherwise, this would not have happened,” he added.
Another eyewitness, Gabriel Obolongong, narrated how he escaped from the inferno with his friends, saying he had to make an immediate detour and headed towards Oyigbo Eleme link road to escape from the incident.
He said, “Driving towards the bridge along Eleme Road, we witnessed traffic build-up. It was terrific.
“We snailed on in the very tight traffic jam till we managed to cross the bridge and manoeuvred our way close to Ecobank on the opposite side of the road.
“But we both had an inner compulsion to make a swift U-turn by every means possible. As we were struggling to effect the turn, we heard an explosion about a hundred meters from us accompanied by infernal fire.
“The first instinct was to abandon our car and scurry along with others, because, though we had effectively made a U-turn, we were jammed with other immobile vehicles.
“Sounds of more cars exploding and fire gushing them towards our direction became more ferocious and dreadful, but the urge not to abandon our car was very compelling.
“As sounds of more exploding vehicle blasts kept approaching us, the more we had difficulty attempting to snail off the raging fire until we eventually crossed the bridge and veered into Eleme community, took straight to Oyigbo at about 9.45pm and returned home unscathed.”
Confirming the casualty figure, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko said that five people have been confirmed dead, adding that the Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, and his team were on the ground last night to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.
“For now about five persons are dead. The Commissioner of Police and his team were on the ground last night to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order,” he said.
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