Scores Die, 100 Vehicles Burnt In Rivers Multiple Fuel Tanker Explosion

No fewer than 100 vehicles and unknown number of persons have reportedly been roasted in multiple explosions that occurred from fuel tankers at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State.

The incident, OSUN DEFENDER learnt occurred late on Friday night leaving many travelers stranded.

It was learnt that a tanker laden with petroleum products exploded and burst into flames that spread to other tankers and many other vehicles trapped in a gridlock.

While some said more than 300 vehicles were burnt, others said they counted over 100.

Though the number of victims could not be ascertained, but sources said many people trapped in their vehicles were roasting by the inferno.

Sources blamed the incident on dangerous driving and the company handling the reconstruction of the Eleme section of the road.

The fire was said to have raged for hours but was later put out by many fire service trucks with support from the Indoroma Petrochemical.

A source said he heard a deafening sound twice from his residence with voices shouting for help.

The source said: “I heard a very loud sound about 20 minutes ago, and people were shouting.

“The sound came from the Petro-Chemical company area. So when I came out I saw a tick smoke with fire from a distance.”

A resident of Port Harcourt, Segun Owolabi said: “I saw four dead bodies burnt. Some may have been in the bushes because many ran away. I saw a whole stretch of vehicles burnt down, trailer burnt down.

“There seems to be a truck carrying substances and it was as if it had collision with another vehicle that may have ignited the fire. Over 20 vehicles burnt down and several people trapped.

“There may be more bodies. Oh my God this is a tragedy. A stretch of vehicles burnt”.