The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has blamed the tragic explosion of a fuel-laden truck in Enugu on break failure.
This is even as the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, announced the take-over of all medical expenses of the injured .
The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has blamed the tragic explosion of a fuel-laden truck in Enugu on break failure.
This is even as the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, announced the take-over of all medical expenses of the injured .
The Source reports that several persons were burnt to death in an explosion which involved a petrol tanker at Ugwu Onyema along the Enugu/Onitsha expressway in Udi Local Council of Enugu State on Saturday morning, January 25, 2025.
The tanker reportedly fell down while negotiating the sloppy end of the express way, leading to spills and explosion
The resultant inferno ,was said to have burnt some vehicles and their occupants who were caught by the explosion.
But the FRSC, Enugu Sector Commander ,Franklin Agbakoba, while briefing Governor Mbah, who paid an on the spot visit to the accident scene late Saturday evening, informed that the tanker lost control and fell, owing to break failure.
He put the official death toll at 11 persons ,with several others injured .
According to the FRSC Sector Commander, identified injured persons were taken immediately to the hospital where they are presently being attended to .
He appreciated the state Governor for his timely visit to the scene and identification with the victims of the sad development.
Meanwhile, Governor Mbah has directed that henceforth, all tankers and other vehicles conveying inflammable products in the State must have anti-spill lock that will prevent spill in the event of accident.
While describing the incident as very unfortunate, the Enugu state Governor noted that the state authorities have put in place adequate security measures to prevent a repeat of such a development..
According to him, apart from ensuring a strict enforcement of extant traffic rules and regulations, the Enugu state Government, he assured, will take steps to begin palliative works on some Federal roads in the state .
“As a Government ,we are also taking quick measures. I have just been speaking with the Head of the Federal Road Safety Corps to make sure they enforce the rules that prohibit tanker drivers from road without an anti-spill lock .
“Tankers conveying premium motor spirit and inflammable products must have an anti-spill lock to ensure that when these trucks fall down ,they do not spill. It is very important.
“Also, for us, as a Government ,we are going to be looking at how we can. deploy some traffic rules to ensure that we do not have a recurrence of this .
“We are also not going to wait for the Federal Government to fix the other section of this highway . We, as a Government, are going to take steps to ensure that what ever needs to be done is done immediately so we would never have a recurrence of this kind of unfortunate incident” Governor Mbah stated
The Governor informed that all necessary measures have been put in place for the injured victims to receive adequate medical attention.
Similarly, he assured that the state authorities will institute a full scale investigation to unravel the true circumstances surrounding the incident.
“In the meantime, we have moved those that are in need of treatment to the hospitals for full medical attention .
“My Commissioner for Health and also the Special Adviser on Health ,the Chief Medical Director of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital ESUTTH , the Police and the FRSC are all involved .
“They have my instruction to ensure that adequate medical attention is given to the survivors .
“This is an accident involving a tanker, and preliminary investigation has shown that the truck had a break failure, fell down ,had its products ,premium motor spirit, spilled from the tank and ignited. PSo this is, for us, a tragedy where we have some casualties.
“But as I said, investigation is still at preliminary stages . The police and other law enforcement agencies are on it .
“We want to get to the root of this for us to understand the cause (s) of the accident” Governor Mbah noted
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