Pregnant woman among ‘eight’ killed in Ondo tanker explosion
At least eight persons have been killed in a petrol tanker explosion in Ore, capital of Odigbo LGA of Ondo state.
A pregnant woman and three children were said to be among those who died in the incident.
Speaking, Odunlami Ibukun, spokesperson of the Ondo police command, said the incident occurred on Sunday evening.
The police spokesperson said the fuel tanker fell and people rushed to scoop petrol, after which it exploded.
“Yes, the fuel tanker fell, some people went there to scoop fuel, and in the process, the tanker exploded. 8 people were confirmed dead as of yesterday evening,” Ibukun said.
A witness who craved anonymity said the explosion was triggered by a spark from the phone of one of the persons who went to scoop the fuel.
“We were inside the church when we heard that tanker fell. The rain was also falling. People were taking fuel when the fire started after a spark from a phone,” the witness said.
“Three children died and we counted over 15 bodies. A pregnant woman that wanted to buy the fuel also died.”
The incident comes weeks after 11 persons were burnt to death after a truck had a head-on collision with a passenger bus on the Soka bridge, along the Benin-Ore expressway in Odigbo.
