No fewer than five persons have reportedly died in a fire incident caused by a falling fuel tanker in Kwara while some others sustained severe burnt injuries.
The unfortunate incident happened at the weekend along Jebba road, Moro local government area of the state.
Residents said the incident occured when the tanker fell and emptied its inflammable content on the road.
Eyewitness said that “some of the product found its way into a gutter which was later ignited from a fire of some residents cooking outside.”
He said: “Two children that went to fetch water were caught in the conflagration while returning but one died in the process and the second is battling for his life at an hospital. A man defecating in the bush was also burnt and about three people that were still scooping the product when were caught by the fire and burnt to ashes.
“We only discovered their charred bodies the next day. But we have about five deaths while around seven people have been injured so far.”
The sourced added that some of the victims who were rushed to the hospital later died, saying that others were transferred to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) in Ilọrin because of the severity of their burns.
Spokesman of the Kwara Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the incident on Sunday.
He said the fire incident was handled by the fire service of the Jebba paper Mill.
He noted: “Several people were injured while some victims later died at the hospital. But I cannot put a figure to the casualties now.”