By Idahosa Musa
Benin City, Nigeria – Tragedy occurred on Sunday at the agrarian town of Agbede in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State as no fewer than eight passengers reportedly got burnt to death following quartet tankers explosion.
It was gathered that the accident happened at the ever-busy channel 5, along the Auchi- Benin Expressway
Confirming the report on Monday in Benin, the Edo State Capital, the Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Cyril Mathew, said the accident involved the vehicles with two of them carrying diesel and other petroleum products.
Mathew said the information available to him, revealed that one of the tankers descending the Ewu Hill on the Benin-Auchi road had a failed brake and consequently rammed into other vehicles which ignited fire.
According to him, as of today (Monday), after the fire service had put out the fire, we counted seven corpses including the two that died on Sunday.
“Four victims with varying degrees of injuries were rushed to the hospital. Out of the four, one of the victims died this morning bringing the total to eight,” he said.
He disclosed that there was congestion on the road and the driver of the truck and his motor boy were shouting no break, no brake and in the process rammed into two other vehicles caught in the traffic and one stationary vehicle.
He noted that those that died were trapped in the traffic and not that they were scooping the content of the tankers.
Mathew, however commended men and officers of the road safety corps as well as the villagers whom he said supported the personnel in manning the area to avoid many casualties.
However, an eyewitness account had it that the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
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