By Adeyinka Adeniran
Thousands of commuters plying the Ibadan-Ife expressway were stranded for several hours on Saturday as a petrol laden tanker, exploded and got burnt.
Two articulated trucks, one 18-seater bus, two small commercial cabs (micra), one tricycle and three motorcycles were also completely burnt in the incident.
But, no life was lost in the incident.
The affected 18-seater bus has AGL803XM as the registration number. It could not be confirmed the route the vehicle was heading.
The incident happened close to Iyana-Ajia Bridge, Egbeda area, Ibadan, the Oyo state capital city
As at the time of the report, while the tanker is still burning, the other affected vehicles have been turned to ashes.
The incident happened around 4:30PM on the Ibadan axis of the Ibadan-Ife Express road, very close to the ongoing Iyana-Ajia bridge.
According to eye witnesses, the incident occurred when the fuel laden tanker in an attempt to follow the diversion directed by the contractor handling the ongoing pedestrian bridge at Iyana-Ajia, got the wheels stucked which led to spilling on fuel on the road.
The witness explained that, the spilling continued for about ten minutes which enabled people nearby and vehicles around to scamper for safety before the tanker eventually exploded in flames.
However, it was gathered that the affected vehicles and motorcycles were trying to be smart by attempting to manoeuvre their way and make a U-Turn back to Egbeda-Ibadan axis, but quickly abandoned their vehicles as soon as they see traces of fire before the eventual explosion.
Another source, Mrs Opeyemi Adeniyi who operates a shop in the area said the repeated sounds of the explosion and the subsequent thick flames alerted people about 2kilometres away to the incident.
Yet, another source explained that the construction company building the pedestrian bridge had blocked one lane of the road but did not level the ground for heavy truck and even smaller trucks to divert to the other lane.
The source said, before the incident, most trucks and vehicles were having issues using the media to change to the diverted lane.
For about two hours that the tanker burns, all vehicular movement was restricted.
Commercial vehicles who tried to access the main roads through the co.mjnuth streets had a terrible experience due to the bad condition of the roads.
When Corenews visited, no fire truck was in sight.
It was observed that a few officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps were seen trying to understudy the situation.
