Horror As Petrol Tanker Explosion Kills Mother, Child In Onitsha 

…razes houses, shops, others

Raymond Ozoji, Awka

It was a horrible sight today at Upper Iweka in Onitsha Anambra state as a heavy duty vehicle filled with premium motor spirit lost control after a brake failure and crashed before the bridge head, setting the whole place ablaze.

The incident which resulted in heavy gridlock along the federal highway was said to have killed a mother and her child at Ochanja area of Onitsha while trying to escape the rampaging inferno.

Men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, the police and other security agents were spotted making efforts to maintain law and order while officials of the state fire service tried in vain to fight the fire which eye witnesses said overpowered them because their men and fire-fighting materials were inadequate.

Furthermore the inferno got out of hand at Upper Iweka axis as buildings and business premises were on fire and spreading sporadically across the city. Panic was in the air due to petrol stations located around the areas were equally going up in flames.

Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report,  the commissioner of police in Anambra state Mr. John Bassey Abang was already at the scene of the fire disaster taking on the spot assessment of the situation and ensuring that hoodlums did not catch in on the situation to cause more harm.

Mother and child burnt to ashes during Onitsha inferno on Wednesday. Photo: Raymond Ozoji