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Police, FRSC recover eight bodies
The bustling community of Ore, Odigbo Local Council of Ondo State, was in a pensive mood yesterday, following an explosion of a tanker on Sunday evening, where scores of lives were lost.
It was gathered that over 15 people, including two pregnant women and children, were reportedly burnt to death at the Showboy axis of the community, when the fuel-laden truck crashed into a ditch with a flowing stream in the area.
Following the crash, some members of the community, armed with buckets and kegs, rushed to the area to scoop fuel from the tanker.
Many residents within the vicinity of the explosion have continued to express shock over the development since its occurrence.
When The Guardian visited the community along the Ore-Benin highway, it was a tale of agony as the fire torched some houses and a church.
According to residents, who wore mournful looks, it was like a movie scene when the explosion rocked the area.
A trader, Cynthia Ogunbameru, residing in one of the buildings located along the stream where the explosion occurred, said the truck fell into the ditch at about 4:30 p.m. and people, particularly commercial motorcyclists, started trooping to the scene to scoop fuel.
Ogunbameru said the explosion occurred between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. while people were scooping fuel from the tanker, adding that some persons evacuated the bodies of loved ones on Sunday night.
She, however, said that prior to the explosion, residents within the axis had warned those scooping the fuel to stop but they ignored all warnings.
“This morning I met about 10 charred bodies, while those around the tanker cannot be recognised. They were packed into a sack by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). Some bodies had also been evacuated on Sunday night.
“What actually happened was that the fuel started spilling into a stream in the community while the residents continued to scoop the fuel with buckets and kegs until the explosion occurred.
“Unfortunately, a woman was cooking in her kitchen when the fuel on the water caught fire, burning the woman to death while the fire travelled back to the tanker.
“A pregnant woman crossing the stream with three other minors was caught in the river and was burned beyond recognition. No one could move in to save them. Some other people who were close to the tanker were also badly affected”, she added.
A commercial motorcyclist, Saliu Awalu, who escaped the fire said: “I parked my motorcycle and came down. After some time, we heard something like a boom. The fire started coming.
“There was another boom, and we saw fire coming. Over 100 people scooping fuel directly from the tanker ran away. I also ran. I saw people carrying fuel and being trailed by the fire. Many people would have died if the fire had started from the tanker, but it started where the water flowed to the residence of a woman who was cooking.”
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olufumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, and the state Command of FRSC said only eight people died in the explosion.
