A petrol tanker caught fire on Saturday at the Ogheghe junction on Sapele Road after falling due to a bad spot on the road.
In a video that circulated on Saturday evening, a man was heard confirming that the incident happened at the Ogheghe junction by the byepass.
The burning petrol tanker
He noted that the tanker fell and caught fire as reside stay way from the inferno.
When The media put a call through to the Edo State Fire Service’s operation room, a lady who gave a name as Faith, said the service dispatched fire fighting vehicles and personnel to the scene of the fire.
She, however, said that the gridlock and the unwillingness of motorists to create space for their vehicles caused them to arrive late at the scene of the fire.
She noted that they got the information about the incident by 7pm and immediately sent their officers to the scene.
She said, “I can confirm that the incident happened. We were called about 7pm and we sent our officials and the fire-fighting equipment to the scene.
“It took them awhile to get there as the motorists did not create a passage for the vehicle to pass and get to the scene on time.
“This has been a major problem when it comes to getting to fire incident scenes. However, our people got a little bit after 8pm.”
The Sapele Road especially the Ogheghe axis has become a death trap with big potholes impeding vehicular movement.
It has been reported earlier that the Federal Road Safety Corps said eight passengers were burnt to death in a fatal road accident that occurred at Agbede community, along the Benin-Auchi road, Etsako West Local Government.
The Edo Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Cyril Mathew, said this in Benin City
Mathew said eyewitness accounts revealed that the accident happened when a truck descending the Ewu Hill from Benin towards Auchi experienced brake failure and crashed into several vehicles trapped in traffic.
