petrol tanker veered off a sloppy road and ran into
some buildings.
The tanker burst into flames killing 7 people
instantly.
The incident happened at exactly 5:55pm on
Tuesday February 11, 2014.
4 commercial buildings, 2 cars, 10 motorcycles and
other valuables that worth over ten million naira
were destroyed in the fire.
As at 6:30am yesterday, the charred carcasses of the
burnt vehicles, in various mangled shapes, were still
on the scene. Sympathisers gathered there, wearing
mournful looks.
Relations of the victims exclaiming from time to
time, saying: "Olorun mi o, ofo semi" (oh my God, I
am bereaved); "Iru iku wo ni eyi, mo daran" (what
kind of death this, I am in trouble).
The dead include Pa Abiodun Ololade (78); Kokoro
Owo (reportedly in his fifties) and a teenager said to
be one Gani Foto's step child.
An eyewitness said the propeller of the truck
detached while it was descending a sloppy portion of
the road from Ibadan-Ilesa end of the town.
He said: "There was nothing the driver could do. We
followed it down to see how he would manage but
the truck went where it wanted to go. It rolled off the
road into the buildings and caught fire. A boy called
Wande, who repairs laptops and handsets, escaped
death because he was not in his shop. His shop and
everything in it was destroyed."
Mr. Agunbiade Kareem, who lived in one of the
buildings and lost a brand new Toyota Corolla in the
fire, said he was outside the building when he saw
the truck falling off its path and exploding.
He said: "I was outside here when I saw the truck
coming down and tumbling into the building. Thick
smoke rose up, followed by an explosion that
consumed the area. Apart from human loses, I lost a
brand new Toyota Corolla, which someone proposed
to buy from me at N1.4 million but I refused. I also
lost two plasma TVs, one Sharp TV, six DSTV
decoders and N513,000 cash, which I wanted to
travel with today (yesterday)."
Mrs. Arowosafe Kubrat, who lost a Honda Accord car,
said she returned from Osogbo around 5pm and
parked her car in front of the house.
She said: "A few minutes later, I heard a loud
explosion. I rushed outside and could not see my car.
Inside it, I had N103,000, some tubers of yam, a
leather box containing clothes, the particulars of my
vehicle and those of another car."
The tanker driver and another occupant of the truck
are being detained at the Aramoko Divisional Police
Station.
Five of the bodies were taken to the mortuary of the
Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).
The Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, visited
the scene around 9am yesterday.
She urged the people to stop building houses close to
the highway, explaining that trading or living in
structures built on the Right of Way (ROW) and
driving faulty vehicles portend danger for the people.
In an emotional voice, the deputy governor described
the incident as "unfortunate", urging the relatives of
the dead to take succour in God.
She warned residents against taking the law into
their hands, adding that measures would be taken to
forestall a recurrence.
Mrs. Adelabu said speed breakers would be put on
sloppy areas on the
Itawure-Ado-Ekiti stretch of the road as a temporary
measure while the state dialogues with the Federal
Government (the owner of the road) on how to
provide a permanent solution to the challenges on
the road.
The deputy governor, who later visited the Alara of
Aramoko-Ekiti, Oba Olu Adegoke Adeyemi, to
commiserate with him, urged drivers to always put
their vehicles in order before driving them.
"If the trucks are well taken care of, most of these
accidents would not occur," she added.
Oba Adeyemi thanked the state government for its
concern and urged the Federal Government to revisit
the abandoned expressway located outside the town,
which would offer an alternative route for motorists.
She said the town's road is accident prone because of
its bends and slopes.
Sent From David Aniemeka
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