Aba tanker fire destroys vehicles

THREE vehicles were gutted by fire in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, when the driver a tanker laden with fuel lost control and crashed into them before finally ramming into another trailer along the ever busy Aba-Ikot Epkene road.

It was gathered that over 20 persons escaped death when the tanker with Registration Number NEN 571XA and the other vehicles as well as a Mack trailer with Registration Number XA 499 SKN were descending the Aba river bridge.

The accident, which happened on Saturday evening, was said to be as a result of brake failure

It was learnt that the tanker driver struggled to regain control, before the truck hit the cars, a white 190 Mercedes Benz V-Boot and a Honda Prelude saloon car, which somersaulted twice.

An eyewitness told Southern City News that the driver of the trailer used his truck to prevent the fuel tanker from running across the Aba river bridge where passengers were boarding vehicles to different parts of the city centre.

He said, “If the fuel tanker had crossed the bridge, there would have been casualties as many passengers were boarding vehicles to the city centre around the bridge.”

Some residents who spoke with our correspondent called on the state and the Federal Government to come to the aid of residents of the area by building a flyover at the bridge head to prevent accidents around the area.