Articulated vehicle crashes, catches fire on Enugu-Abakaliki highway

News Agency Of Nigeria

January 16, 2019 9:43 AM

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the scene reports that the vehicle later caught fire from the spilled product.

Articulated vehicle crashes, catches fire on Enugu-Abakaliki highway

An articulated vehicle conveying diesel on Tuesday crashed near the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (FETHA), on the Enugu-Abakaliki highway.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the scene reports that the vehicle later caught fire from the spilled product.

The incident disrupted vehicular movement, causing motorists to divert to adjourning routes. Security personnel who arrived at the scene of the incident cordoned off the area and helped in controlling traffic through the diversions.

Mr Raphel Eseni, the Ebonyi Chief Fire Officer, who confirmed the incident to NAN, said that no casualty was recorded in the incident.

Eseni said that he quickly dispatched his men to the scene, following a distress call from a good Nigerians about the mishap.

He said: “The tanker is still burning but we have succeeded in reducing the intensity of the fire.”

He said that they had yet to ascertain the cause of the accident.

An eyewitness account, however, said that the driver of the vehicle was making desperate attempt to escape from a task force operating on the expressway, when the accident occurred.

He said: “I saw the task force pursuing the tanker from the Ishieke end of the highway.

“In the process, the vehicle veered off the road, hit the cement slabs at the road median before falling.

“We heard a loud bang as the tank exploded and caught fire, forcing people in the area to scamper for safety,” he said.

The eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed joy that there were no other vehicles near the tanker when it caught fire.

He said that the tanker driver and his conductor miraculously escaped from the inferno, while the task force team swiftly reversed on sighting the incident.

He commended the fire service for its timely intervention, saying that the fire would have assumed a monumental proportion without the quick arrival of the fire fighters.

News Agency Of Nigeria