Yesterday, Saturday 11th Octotber no fewer than sixty people were said to have been burnt to alive at the popular Molete Under-bridge, area of Ibadan!
The incident resulted when a fully loaded petrol tanker, fell over spillng it's highly inflammable content, and getting ignited by a nearby fire.
The accident that occurred around 9 pm left scores dead and many people injured with varied degrees of injury. When the Street Journal visited the scene of the accident, there was commotion as many people were still trying to find their wards and relatives that just passed though the area.
Eye witness accounts have it that the fuel tanker that was coming from Challenge end of Molete had a break failure and the driver subsequently lost its control before it rammed into a pole under the bridge, resulting in the fire disaster.
It was gathered at the scene of the accident that about dozens of Okada riders and some commuters were caught up in the ensued fire disaster. Traders by the roadsides particularly, the bread sellers were roasted like bush meat. All the adjoining streets had a fair share of the disaster as casualties figures are expected to rise as many people were caught unawares in their shops.
A combined team of security operatives and the state emergency agencies were on ground to ensure that the number of casualties was drastically brought under control.
Men of the state fire service were also sighted at the scene of the fire disaster rescuing people that were trapped while the entire area was condoned off to ensure smooth rescue operation by the emergency agency personnel.
Men of the Nigeria Police were also on ground to maintain law and order. The leader of the team who spoke with The Street Journal on condition of anonymity said the policemen's presence was aimed at ensuring that miscreants did not take advantage of the incident to wreak havoc on innocent people. He said his men were at the scene of the accident to prevent looting and allied nefarious activities of area boys in the neighborhood.
An eye witness who simply identified himself as Wasiu explained to The Street Journal that many youngsters were under the bridge discussing the sad outcome of the today's football match between Nigeria and Sudan which Nigeria lost by one goal to nil when the accident occurred.
He said he counted no fewer than fifty burnt bodies that littered the roads. He said that he narrowly escaped death as he jumped inside the gutter to avoid the rampaging inferno that trailed the spilled over fuel.
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