Tanker Accident Leaves 95 Dead in Rivers

At least 95 people have been confirmed dead after an accident involving a petrol tanker occurred at Okobie, Rivers State today. According to reports emerging from the Federal Road Safety Commission, the accident involved four vehicles and a petrol tanker.

As at 11.45 am, at least 95 bodies had been retrieved by the FRSC. According to the FRSC Sector Commander for Rivers State, Dr. Kayode Olagunju, “People were scooping fuel from the tanker when it exploded, casualty figures definitely high, and about 20 injured persons already taken to the hospitals… Thirty-four motor-cycles also got burnt,” he added.

Rivers State police spokesperson, Ben Ugwuegbulam, also confirmed the incident, and according to him, “Early this morning a tanker loaded with petrol fell in Okogbe and people trooped to the scene obviously to scoop the spilled fuel and suddenly there was fire resulting in casualties.”

Foreign media such as CNN and Aljazeera have been reporting the news as well, and as usual they have not failed to point out the continually decaying infrastructure in Nigeria; also, the corrupt practices of the Nigerian leaders. According to Aljazeera, “Crashes are common on Nigeria’s pot-holed and poorly maintained roads, and in a region where most people live on less than $2 a day the chance to collect spilling petrol is too much of a temptation, despite the high risk of fires… The east-west road, which runs across the oil-producing region, has been scheduled for development for almost a decade and money is allocated for it in the budget each year.”