A petrol tanker has caused fire outbreak, razing down a part of a filling station in Ogidi, a town near the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State.
A source in Onitsha said the fire started at about 10am on Friday, when the petrol tanker discharging petroleum product in the filling station sparked fire, causing the fire outbreak.
“There was pandemonium in tbe entire area in Ogidi, near Onitsha. The petrol tanker was discharging fuel at the filling station, when a small spark of fire was noticed, and before it could be extinguished, the tanker was already in flame, burning down the filling station,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Anambra Fire Service boss, Mr Martin Agbili has confirmed the incident, saying that his men have successfully put off the fire.
He said: “At about 09:53am of today (Friday), we received a distress call of a fire outbreak at a Petrol Filling Station at 7th Mile, Ogidi.
“Our fire trucks and Firefighters were deployed to the fire incident scene. Anambra State Fire Service, Awka, Nigeria and Federal Fire Service were there to fight the fire. The fire had been completely controlled and extinguished now.
“There was no loss of life while the filling station was saved. The fire affected the tanker. The cause of the fire outbreak was as a result of spark from the pumping ground during their transloading process.
“We will continue to tell petrol filling station owners to stop discharging and transloading under the intensity of the sun or during the day. This practice is best done in the night or at the early hours of the morning,” Agbili said.
