By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
No fewer than 30 persons including five students of Kogi state Polytechnic and three Nursery pupils loss their lives while several vehicles were burnt to ashes in a road crash involving a petrol tanker in Felele along Lokoja-/Abuja highway.
The fully loaded petrol tanker, alledgedly belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) was said to have had brake failure early hours of Wednesday and rammed onto five cars, two motorbikes and threetrycyle popularly known as Keke killing all ocupants.
Among those killed and burnt beyond recognition include five students of the state owned Polytechnic, three nursery school students and passerbys.
Also killed was a business man identified simply as Samson, his wife and three children .
He was said that be selling sewing machines somewhere in Lokoja and wanted to drop his children off at school as he normally does everyday before he wi drive to his Shop.
Eye witness account told our correspondent who was at the accident spot that the brake of the tanker had failed and in an attempt to manoeuvre, fell on its side of the road.
“I was about crossing the road when I noticed the tanker driver signalling to motorists to clear the road but before could shout, the tanker had lost control and fell on all vehicles beside it”. he narrated.
“Immediately the tanker fell, fire started and incinerated all vehicles along its way” he said.
Our correspondent counted five cars,two trycyle and three motorcycles burnt .
Members of the road safety corps who arrived around 10 am came with an Ambulance from Rescue/rehabilitation team to evacuate the corpses burnt beyond recognition while locals made frantic efforts to identify them.
However, the sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp,Idris Fika Ali said 23 persons were killed in explosion while one child escaped with injuries
Meanwhile, the Kogi state Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello has expressed Shock and Sorrow over the Fatal Tanker Explosion’
A statement issued immediately after the incident,by the chief press secretary to the Governor, Onogwu Mohammed said that
“Governor Bello is very sad to learn of the tragic loss of lives, many vehicles, property and other valuables in the petrol tanker fire.”
The Governor also urged the students of Kogi State Polytechnic to remain calm and peaceful, stating that he equally shared in their grieving moment over the death of some of their colleagues in the disaster.
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