Driver, passenger killed in tanker fire

07.05.2008

A driver and a female passenger were killed on Monday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following a petrol tanker fire at about midnight.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the incident occurred at Eliozu junction in the state capital. An eyewitness said the tanker caught fire when the driver lost control and crashed the tanker, spilling its content.

According to the eyewitness, both the driver and the female passenger got burnt beyond recognition. Following the inferno, eight other persons were said to have been hospitalised while 10 vehicles were burnt.

An eyewitness, Mr. James Amadi, who spoke with NAN at the scene of the incident on Tuesday, blamed it on “careless driving.”

“The driver caused it all. You can see how narrow the road is. He was on high speed and suddenly could no longer control the vehicle.

“So the vehicle crashed and spilled the petrol it was carrying and all we saw was fire,’’ he added. NAN reported that the fire raged for more than an hour before fire men from the state Fire Department put it out.