Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
No fewer than 90 people perished and 50 injured when a petrol tanker exploded in Majiya Town, Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State on Tuesday night.
The State Police Command which confirmed the incident attributed the high death toll to the rush by most of the victims to scoop fuel.
He said mass burial would be conducted for the victims.
Mr Shi’isu Adam, the Police Spokesperson in Jigawa, who confirmed this on Wednesday, described the incident as very sad and unfortunate.
According to him, the 50 persons who sustained varying degrees of injury, have been evacuated to various hospitals.
On how it happened, he said: “At about 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Majia Town, Taura local government area of Jigawa, the tanker driver lost control near Khadija University and it exploded.
“The driver left Kano and was heading to Nguru in Yobe. when the accident happened,” Adam said.
He said: “We are worried that in spite of police warning for people to steer clear from scenes of accidents involving fuel tankers, they still engage in such acts.
”People gathered around the accident scene, that is the reason for the mass casualty.”
Police regretted that the victims ignored efforts to stop them from scooping fuel from the tanker before it went up in flames.
“Despite the efforts of the police, who had cordoned off the area and issued warnings to the public, people resisted and started scooping the fuel, triggering a devastating explosion.”
Shiisu added that the police struggled to keep control of the scene, with many bystanders ignoring warnings and moving dangerously close to the accident site.
“The tanker, loaded with petrol, ignited shortly after the crash, causing an inferno that engulfed numerous people in the vicinity.
“The injured were immediately rushed to General Hospital at Ringim, where medical personnel are working around the clock to treat the victims. However, the death toll is likely to rise as several of the injured remain in critical condition,” he stated.
He said the state Police Commissioner, AT Abdullahi, has since condoled the residents of the state especially the people of Majiya town where the incident happened.
He also warned people to always stay away from such incident sites to avoid loss of lives and property.
“When the accident occurred people started rushing to scoop fuel and in the process, fire ignited from nowhere which led to the death of many persons and injured many others.”
He said following the inferno, 94 persons lost their lives on the spot while 50 others that injured were rushed to Ringim General Hospital where doctors are battling to save their lives.
