The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of three unidentified Almajiri children and eight others, who were burnt to death in a petrol tanker explosion at a Welder’s workshop in Gawu community in Abaji Area Council, Abuja.
The FRSC Sector Commander, Andrew Kumapayi, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka, saying the explosion occurred around 11:23am when a petrol-laden tanker was trying to avoid a head-on collision with a ‘Dangote’ trailer.
Kumapayi said “22 people were involved in the incident, while ten people were burnt to death and ten others, eight male adults and two female adults sustained various degrees of burns.
“The burnt victims were rescued by the unit commander of the FRSC and taken to Federal Medical Centre at new -Gawu in Niger state, even as he attributed the incident to over-speeding and loss of concentration.
“Among those that also lost their lives in the explosion were a housewife, Halima Mohammed Yusuf, chairman of the vigilante of Gawu, Adamu Ibrahim, Dantala Usman, Umar Aliyu, Mohammed Hamza, Hassan Usman, Gambo Hamisu and Sani Abdulmutalib.”
A resident of the community narrated that, “the tanker was coming from Lapai axis heading to Izom, after dodging a pothole, which he suddenly veered off the road and crashed, spilling the content on by the road side.
“Some natives of the community after noticing the petrol was pouring out of the fallen tanker rushed to the scene with buckets and jerry-cans to scoop fuel.
“It was while scooping the fuel from the fallen tanker when it suddenly exploded and killed three Almajiri boys and eights others including a woman who came to the scene to chase the boys away from the scene.”
The FRSC sector commander said families of the burnt victims, who visited the scene after fire, took the corpses for burial.