A petrol tanker caught fire on Saturday November 1, at the Ogheghe junction on Sapele Road in Benin City, Edo State, after toppling over due to a bad section of the road. The incident occurred around 7 pm, causing panic among residents and motorists.
Fortunately, there were no deaths reported, but the fire caused significant traffic congestion. The Edo State Fire Service responded promptly, deploying firefighters and equipment to contain the blaze.
The road condition was reportedly poor, with deep potholes contributing to the accident. Residents have long complained about the state of Sapele Road, particularly the Ogheghe axis.
The fire service noted that gridlock and motorists’ refusal to give way delayed their response time.
“I can confirm that the incident happened. We were called about 7pm and we sent our officials and the fire-fighting equipment to the scene.
It took them awhile to get there as the motorists did not create a passage for the vehicle to pass and get to the scene on time, this has been a major problem when it comes to getting to fire incident scenes. However, our people got a little bit after 8pm.” A member of the State Fire Service simply known as Faith said confirming the incident and their inability to get there and quench the fire on time.
