Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has described Saturday’s Fuel Tanker explosion incident at Ugwuonyeama, along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, near Enugu, as unfortunate and very sad one.
Mbah, who visited the scene of the accident said the Enugu State Government had already swung into action by ensuring that victims of the explosion received full medical attention, while commiserating with the families of the dead.
He also said that the government would take steps to forestall future occurrences, including enforcement of road rules and fixing the part of the federal road that was in disrepair.
The governor further Directed the Federal Road Safety Corpse (FRSC) Sector Commander, Enugu, Mr Franklin Agbakoba, and the State Commissioner for Transport, Mr Obi Ozor, to ensure that all tankers conveying inflammable substances in the state have anti-spill lock that will prevent spill in case of accident.
“This is an accident involving a tanker that preliminary investigation shows may have had a break failure, fell down, had its product, premium motor spirit spilled from the tank and ignited.
”So, this is for us a tragedy where we have some casualties,” Mbah said.
The governor also directed relevant state agencies to evacuate those injured in the explosion to the hospitals for full medical attention.
”My Commissioner for Health and also my Special Adviser on Health, the Chief Medical Director of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital (ESUTTH), Parklane, Enugu, the police, and Federal Road Safety Corps are all involved.
“They have my instruction to ensure that maximum medical attentions were given to the survivors,” the governor stated.
Mbah added: ”We as government are going to take steps to ensure that whatever needs to be done on that section of the federal road is done immediately so we would never want a reoccurrence of this.”
Briefing the governor on outcome of some of the preliminary investigations conducted, the FRSC Sector Commander in Enugu, explained that the tanker spill was as a result of a brake failure by the fuel tanker.
He explained that 11 people lost their lives at the scene, while identified injured road users were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
However, latest reports indicate that more than 15 people have died from the incident while several others are still in the hospital receiving treatment.
The incident has sent shock waves to residents of Enugu and environs.
Many residents who spoke to Ikengaonline blamed the perennial fatal crashes in Ugwuonyeama axis of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway on the activities of the security agents who mount road blocks in the area.
Some residents, however, accused the contractors handling the expressway of being too slow thereby causing accidents on the road.
