No fewer than 7 persons were confirmed dead and one remaining victim moved to intensive care unit of NAUTH when a tanker with petrol fell at Amawbia Roundabout in Awka and went up in flames last night.
Nigerian Notch, correspondent in Awka who went to the scene gathered that at least eight vehicles and some residential buildings within the vicinity were also destroyed in the inferno.
The fire occurred in front of the Amawbia Fire Service and near the Police Headquarters, Anambra Governor’s Lodge and other public buildings.
Narrating his experience, one of the victims, Okechukwu, said the tanker was negotiating a bend when it fell and subsequently burst into flames.
“I saw the vehicle trying to negotiate to this direction and all of a sudden the tank fell and hit the pavement of the roundabout so I immediately came out of my car.
“Few seconds after, there was an explosion accompanied by fire and as you can see, my car is burnt beyond recognition, together with about ten other vehicles,” he said.
An eyewitness, Mary Anyaora, who was seen weeping at the scene, said the number of casualties could still be more.
Anyaora said that many more people were still trapped in their buildings and might not be able to escape from the fire.
She said that the effect of the fire could have been minimal, if there was an immediate intervention from the Fire Service.
Confirming the incident, SP Haruna Mohammad, the PPRO of Anambra state Police Command stated that "so far, a total number of Seven Corpses were certified dead at various hospitals by medical Doctors while the only surviving victim was referred to the University Teaching hospital Nnewi and was admitted at the intensive care unit of the hospital"
He further stated that "consequently, out of the seven Corpses confirmed dead, three are deposited at Amaku General Hospital Morgue, two at Regina Caeli Hospital and another two at Piston Hospital Morgue for postmortem examination.
He however stressed that, the situation was brought under control and obstruction cleared,while investigation is still ongoing.