Tanker explosion kills taxi driver, burns five vehicles

A yet to be identified taxi driver was killed and more than five vehicles were burnt after a petrol tanker caught fire along the Mbiama end of the East-West Road, which is a major expressway linking the South-South with other regions of the country.

The incident that occurred about 6 pm on Wednesday, spurred the Bayelsa State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ikechukwu Igwe, to deploy his officials in the area in order to ensure free traffic flow along the busy expressway.

It was gathered that the driver of the tanker was lost control of the tanker after he reportedly discharged fuel in one of the filling stations in the area. The tanker fell shortly after coming out of the filling station without discharging all the products.

Igwe, FRSC boss, who visited the area on Thursday morning, said only a taxi driver died in the incident.

According to him, the deceased taxi driver, instead of fleeing the scene after the tanker collapsed, opened the bonnet of his vehicle and attempted to disconnect his battery and in the process of trying to remove his vehicle’s battery, a spark occurred and caused the explosion.

He said, “The driver just discharged fuel at Lionman Filling Station but as he was going out, the tanker fell. The taxi man that died in the incident came out and discovered that there was no road because other drivers abandoned their vehicles and fled the area.

“The man (deceased taxi driver) decided to disconnect his vehicle’s battery and there was a spark because the remaining fuel from the tanker had spilt on the road. The spark caused the fire that killed the taxi driver and burnt five vehicles”.