How N25 Million and 5 people, 25 Vehicles got burnt in Abuja last Monday even when 5 Fire service trucks came, fire did much harm to businesses

Fuel tankers are among the most dangerous vehicles on the road, carrying loads that make them vulnerable to rolling over and bursting into flames.

A fatal accident occurred at Zuba Tyre Dealers Market, ~Abuja on Monday around 11.40am when a fuel tanker was ascending the Zuba bridge while trying to face Kubwa Road. But rather than drive slowly, the tanker ascended the bridge on full speed.

The speed was too much as it approached the bend;  it fell; immediately, fuel poured out sparked an inferno which burnt, beyond recognition,  five persons beyond recognition identified as  two operators of the mechanic workshop below the bridge, by the tyre dealers market, the driver of the tanker and two others persons.

At the scene on Tuesday, the day after the tragedy, and the tyres of the tanker still burning.

In an interview, one of the operators of the mechanics workshop, Mr. Anthony Odoh-Sunday, whose car was also nor spared by the inferno, said the tanker lost control while trying to manoeuvre the sharp bend on the bridge, emptying its fuel on the vehicles parked for repairs at the workshop.

“The incident happened around 12noon on Monday when l saw the driver struggling to control the vehicle while the tanker was shaking seriously on the bridge before it fell and  fuel started flowing out in torrents on the parked vehicles in our workshop.

“We managed to move some of the vehicles from the place but, before we could come for others, the ensuing fire had engulfed the entire place and the other cars, about 25, were in flames; so we had run for our lives and stayed a good distance from the fire while calling on the Fire Service in Kubwa, Gwagwalada and other places because we do not have Fire Service in Zuba”.

Many of the dealers in the tyre market and operators of the mechanic workshop faulted the slow response of the Fire Service to the fire incident.

The market people, mostly men, were so enraged that they lamented that they almost drove the fire trucks back. They had no water to douse the fire save the assistance of Pasali Filling Station just by tyre the market, which emptied its fire extinguishers that helped to contain the fire to an extent.

Odoh-Sunday also confirmed that the first fire truck to arrive the scene, about an hour after the fire started burning, was the one from the Kubwa Fire Station, followed by four others, making them five, yet they had one inadequacy or another but got help from sympathizers with water to work at the end of it all.

One of the mechanic workshop’s operators, who gave his name as Rasak Bature. from Edo State, corroborated Odoh-Sunday, saying he saw the tanker after the driver lost control.

Bature said they were in the workshop trying to fix cars including a white man’s, who had his jeep parked and came in another car in anticipation to have his jeep fixed, when he saw the fire and fled, leaving his two cars to burn in the inferno.

Asked if some of the owners of the cars were around at the time of the incident, he said most of them were not around and might not even be aware of the incident until later when the news spread.

He estimated the value of the car engines burnt in the workshop to be around N5million excluding 25 vehicles affected which ranged from ML Jeep to Toyota Golf and Camry.

However, the news that spread was that a white man left N10million in one of his cars and was screaming for help to get the money when one of the men around the scene jumped into the fire  and died in the process. That story Odoh-Sunday and Bature debunked, saying there was nothing like that but confirmed that a white man was indeed around at the time of the incident.

There were also  conflicting reports on the number of the dead, but only five persons died including one that died in Gwagwalada Hospital.

“I saw  two persons jumped out of a vehicle just immediately the fire started while a third person was trapped in the fire and burnt beyond recognition, Odoh-Sunday stated.

“For the other persons, we don’t know who they were yet. They could be passers-by or customers, we cannot tell”.

The traders in one voice appealed to the FCT authorities to provide Zuba with a Fire Service, claiming they had lost lives and property to fire incidents with the late arrival of fire men.

Speaking,  Zuba Unit Commander, Chorrie Muta’a, said Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was at the scene with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to quell the fire before fire trucks arrived the scene.

Muta’a confirmed that the fuel tanker was on high speed when the driver ascended the round bridge but had problem controlling the steering at a point and rolled over.

He also confirmed that five persons got burnt beyond recognition while he regretted the late arrival of fire trucks the scene.

The FCT Police PRO, ASP Anjuguri Manzah, who sympathised with families of the victims, said it was a pitiable situation.

Manzah said that the FCT Commissioner of Police had ordered investigation into the matter while he advised road users in Abuja to be careful on the road.

Written By Favour Nnabugwu for Vanguard

Photo: Cross section of vehicles burnt and Odoh Sunday, a victim