Property worth over N2million was at the weekend lost to a fire incident which razed Easy On petrol station located along Umuwaya road, Umuahia, Abia State capital.
Eyewitnesses said the fire was caused by the discharged kerosene which may have mixed up with petrol inside the tank leading to a rise in temperature.
247ureports.com gathered that the incident caused panic in the area as people feared that the fire would spread to the underground tanks as the petrol station is located within residential area.
According to a lady who was at the station to buy fuel at the time of the incident, the fire started at about 5pm Saturday when an explosion was heard from an underground tank when the tanker carrying kerosene was discharging its content at the station. The tanker caught fire leading to people on queue to buy fuel scampering to safety.
“As soon as the explosion occurred, the tanker caught fire. People who were on queue on to buy fuel ran away. Some vehicles summoned up and brought out their fire extinguishers, while others poured on the tanker before men of the fire service came,” one of the station’s workers told our correspondent.
Before the situation could be brought under control, two fuel dispensing pumps and the tanker were consumed by the fire.
As at the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the Head of the Abia Fire Service, Mr. Victor Gbaruko proved abortive as his mobile line was unavailable.
