By Adeyinka Adeniran
Business outlet owners amongst other on Saturday lost property worth millions of naira to another tanker explosion around Lead City University road, Ibadan Toll gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The incident which happened at 2:45pm on Saturday has thrown the owners of the affected shops into a state of despair
It was gathered that one of the affected shops was loaded with Computer sets worth millions of naira.
Also, some of the cars and motorcycles that were packed along the road were razed by fire.
It could not be confirmed as at the time of this report if there was any casualty from the incident.
But, a source said the driver of the truck and his motor boy narrowly escaped death by whiskers.
The men of the Oyo State Fire Service ably supported by the Federal Service were on ground to bring the situation under control.
The owner of one of the affected shops who refused to mention her name said, “I just heard a bang from outside. Initially, I mistaken it for a gunshot.
“Before I realized what is happening, the atmosphere has been enveloped with thick smokes.
“Calls were put through to the Fire Services. But before they arrived, the deed had been done.I have lost everything to the inferno. I don’t know where to start again.”
Also, the sympathizers blamed the incident on the diversion occasioned by the ongoing rehabilitation of road in the area.
According to them, the driver of the affected truck has no reason to make a detour to the access route if not for the ongoing rehabilitation.
“As you can see, this road is dotted with potholes that make it difficult for the truck to navigate.
“The truck fell on one of its sides and it exploded when its driver was trying to maneuver his way through the bad portion of the road.
“We thank God that no life was lost but the properties lost to the incident are unquantifiable.
Confirming the incident, the General Manager of Oyo State Fire Service, Rev. Akinyinka said his men are on the ground at the scene of the incident.
He said the men of the State Fire Services have been able to put the spread of the fire to other shops in check.
Meanwhile, security operatives have been strategically positioned in the area to prevent breakdown of law and order by the affected shops owner.
It would be recall that similar incident was averted at Offa-Metta in Oyo recently when a DAF trailer tanker loaded with 40, 000 litres of DPK capacity, lost control whilst on motion and swerved off the road.
The content gushing out, the crew of the State Fire Services as reliably gathered swung into action by applying chemical foam compound to neutralize and blanket the content as to avoid any likely fire hazards.
