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Tag: tanker

  • BREAKING: Shema filling station gutted by fire as tanker explodes [Video]

    BREAKING: Shema filling station gutted by fire as tanker explodes [Video]

    Emman Ovuakporie

    Shema filling station located on Kubwa-Zubwa express road has been gutted by fire as tanker explodes.

    The source of the fire which started at about 3.30pm as at the of filing this story could not be ascertained.

    Two fire fighter vehicles moving towards the scene of the incident from NEMA centre along Kubwa Express way.

    No attempt by fuel attendants to stop the fire as police direct vehicles to move from the service lane.

    FRSC officers were seen directing vehicular objects from the scene.

    Watch video:

     

  • Photos: Lagosians scooping fuel from a fallen tanker

    Some residents of Victoria Island, highbrow Lagos Friday morning trooped out with kegs to scoop diesel from a fallen 33,000 litre tanker along Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue.

    The truck with registration number KRD280XN was said to have lost a tyre while in motion around 5am which caused a flip through the highway median.

    It was gathered that the two compartments of 11,000 litres each detached from the truck and fell on the ground spilling their contents.

    In no time, some residents and street urchins surrounded the tanker with jerrycans leaching on the liquid substance.

    But for the timely intervention of the police, who chased the young people away and seized some of the jerrycans, there would have been an explosion with devastating casualties on the busy expressway.

  • Video: Tanker falls, spills fuel on Otedola bridge

    Video: Tanker falls, spills fuel on Otedola bridge

    A truck laden with diesel fell off while driving inward Berger shortly after the Otedola bridge Lagos.

    The truck has been spilling Its contents since the accident and a Physical assessment is being conducted in order to avert the occurrence of fire incident.

    Watch video below:

     

    More details later…

  • Several dead as tanker explodes in Cross River

    Several dead as tanker explodes in Cross River

    There was pandemonium on Friday in Cross River State has a tanker filled with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) explodes killing several people.

    According to the Police on Saturday the petrol tanker veered off the road, caught fire and exploded as people tried to recover fuel.

    The vehicle crashed in the Odukpani area of the southeastern state of Cross River, just north of the state capital, Calabar, at about 5pm on Friday.

    Local residents rushed to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire, triggering the blast.

    Cross River state police spokeswoman Irene Ugbo said the blast could have been sparked by the clashing of steel containers used to scoop up the petrol.

    “I can’t confirm the exact number of casualties,” she said, adding: “The casualties are high.”

    The injured were taken to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for treatment to varying degrees of burns.

    One local resident, Akpan Imon, said at least 18 people were killed.

    “I counted 18 bodies including women and children burnt beyond recognition,” he said.

    “I believe the casualty level could be more because people from other neighbouring communities had thronged the scene.”

    Another local, Sunday Ibor, said “over 20 bodies” were taken to the local government secretariat.

    Petrol tanker and pipeline blasts are common in Nigeria, where despite the country’s multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry, most people live in poverty.

    Fires and explosions often occur as people try to siphon fuel from pipelines and also following accidents involving fuel tankers on badly maintained road.

    In July 2012, at least 104 people were killed and some 50 others wounded as they tried to collect fuel from a petrol tanker after an accident in the southern state of Rivers.

    Most were killed in the subsequent fire.

    In June last year, at least nine people died in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, when a petrol tanker crashed, triggering a wildfire that gutted more than 50 vehicles.

    …Governor Ayade expresses shock, mourns

    Meanwhile, the state governor, Ben Ayade has expressed shock at the incident.

    Ayade conveyed his condolence in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Christian Ita, on Saturday in Calabar.

    “My heart goes out to all the victims of the fuel tanker explosion. This is the most horrendous way to die.

    “I am too shocked and traumatized to express the depth of my grief for the victims of the explosion.

    “As a government, we must try and reach out to the victims’ families who are affected by these avoidable deaths.

    “Whatever circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident must be thoroughly investigated. This is one tragedy too many. We must do something to ensure this does not happen again,” he said.

    Ayade pleaded with residents not to subject themselves to such avoidable deaths, adding that the state Ministry of Information and Orientation would begin sensitisation campaign on the matter.

    He said that the campaign should educate the citizens on the dangers of scooping fuel from fallen tankers laden with petroleum products.

    Mr Chidiebere Nkwonta, Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps in the state, confirmed the incident.

    Nkwonta, who spoke to NAN in a telephone interview, said that the tanker fell off the road side at around 2pm on Friday.

    “We suspected the incident to have happened out of speed violation on the side of the driver. He was slightly injured when my men visited the scene.

    “We did our best to ensure safety around the scene by ensuring free flow of movement around the area.

    “Unfortunately, at night, some people went there and started scooping fuel and there was an explosion that resulted to mass casualty.

    “I want to use this medium to advise people to stop scooping fuel from fallen tankers laden with petroleum product, it’s not safe,” he said.

    NAN reports that some of the victims who sustained third degree injuries were currently receiving treatment at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

  • Petrol tanker rams into beer parlour, kills four

    Four persons were on Saturday crushed to death by a tanker in Rumuapara community in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    The tanker rammed into a bar where the four persons were drinking, killing all of them on the spot.

    It was gathered that the vehicle heading for Eleme Refinery to load petroleum product, skidded off the road due to break failure.

    A source disclosed that a Sport Utility Vehicle parked by the side of the road was destroyed by the tanker.

    The incident, which happened at about 3.45pm, was said to have shocked residents of the area, who wondered how the heavy duty vehicle rammed into the beer palour.

    It was learnt that the driver of the vehicle swerved off the road when he noticed the break failure.

    The policemen attached to Rumuokoro Police Station later arrived the scene and took away bodies of the deceased.

    When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said he had not been briefed on the incident.

    Omoni, however, promised to speak on the incident as soon as he was briefed by the Divisional Police Officer at Rumuokoro.

    He had yet done so as of the time of filling in this report at 9.30pm.

  • Explosion averted in Ekiti as tanker spills fuel

    Explosion averted in Ekiti as tanker spills fuel

    A tragedy was on Saturday averted after a petrol tanker spilt its content on the road after offloading at a Filling Station in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

    The incident occurred while the tanker was pulling out of the filling station, spilling the remnant of its contents in the process.

    The incident would have escalated into a tragic explosion but men of the state fire service swung into action, preventing a fire outbreak around the tanker or at locations where the split remnant of its content flowed to, via the drainage.

    Governor Ayodele Fayose in reaction visited the scene and warned businesses owners to comply with standards and safety measures while going about their businesses.

    “They need to put the interest of the state and the people first. Today, many lives would have been lost because this is a tanker containing PMS.

    “In doing business, especially businesses with this kind of sensitivity, like the oil an gas, they have to keep to standard and measures for the safety of our people.”

  • Customs intercepts petrol tanker loaded with 1000 bags of rice [ Photos]

    Customs intercepts petrol tanker loaded with 1000 bags of rice [ Photos]

    The Nigeria Customs Service, Zone “B” Federal Operations Unit (FOU), has impounded a petrol tanker, a J5 bus and a truck filled with 1000 bags of smuggled rice, on the Kaduna-Zaria axis.

    The Controller, FOU Zone B, Usman Dakingari said that the suspects had been arrested and investigation had started.

    He also said that another truck conveying smuggled rice, concealed in a bigger bag of maize, was also seized.

    Therefore, the smugglers stacked thousands of bags of 50kg bag rice in petrol tankers to give the impression that what they are carrying are petroleum products.

    He noted that the smugglers were arrested after intelligence information and regular surveillance by customs officials in Kaduna State.

    Dakingari revealed further that the smugglers have also devised the method of mixing bags of rice inside bags containing grain, adding that this is to give the impression that the bags contain only maize.

    The Customs comptroller vowed that he and his men are determined to rid the zone of smugglers. He adviced those who engaged in smuggling to desist from the illegal act or be prepared to face the wrath of the law.

  • Tanker Explosion: LASG to enforce collection of road worthiness certificate

    Tanker Explosion: LASG to enforce collection of road worthiness certificate

    The Lagos State Government on Sunday gave a 30-day ultimatum to all articulated vehicles coming into the state to obtain the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) certificate of road worthiness or face sanctions.

    The state government also directed fuel tanker drivers to henceforth ply the designated trailer route -Apapa/Oworonshoki expressway via Ogudu to the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson, gave the directive at a news conference in Alausa, Ikeja, alongside members of NUPENG and the Container Truck Association of Nigeria on development arising from the fuel tanker explosion on Thursday.

    Lawanson said that 10 operational centres had been designated to process applications immediately, while new centres would be established quickly on the the Lagos/Ibadan expressway to cope with the expected demand for the service.

    He said the centres include: Berger Ojodu, Odogunyan Ikorodu, Agric/Ishawo Road, Ikorodu, Worksyard, PWD, Shogunle, NCI Gbagada, VIS Yard, Oko-Afo, Badagry, VIS Yard, Ayobo in Ipaja, Test Centre in Badagry, VIS Yard, Epe and VIS Yard, Oko-Oba Abbatoir.

    Lawanson said that government would embark on awareness campaign to persuade all vehicle owners to obtain MOT road worthiness certificate.

    “We hereby call on motorists and the general public to join hands with us to prevent avoidable deaths due to the presence of vehicles unfit to ply the roads.

    “Let us protect each other by asking our friends to save lives by obtaining their road worthiness certificates, ‘’ he said.

    Lawanson said that the state government in 2017 upgraded vehicle testing operations and launched the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centres to ensure that vehicles which ply the roads and highways were road worthy.

    “This measure recorded positive results. Between April 1, 2017 and May 2018, a total of 178, 267 vehicles were tested,’’ he said.

    Lawanson said that investigation conducted so far by the state government indicated that the truck involved in the explosion NSR 888 YC, was registered in Kano State and had changed ownership 13 times since purchase.

    “This truck was designed as a 14,959kg, approximately 15 tonnes drilling rig with low bed but was converted in Nigeria from a drilling rig to fuel carrier to carry 30 tonnes.

    “From this preliminary investigation, the truck should not have been loaded to the weight of 30 tonnes, which is twice its pulling capacity,’’ he said.

    Lawanson said that further investigation into the current ownership of the fuel tanker and other related details was progressing.

    He said that facts obtained in the course of investigation had compelled the review of the legal, economic and social framework of the current management of traffic involving tankers loaded with fuel and other cargoes within the state.

    Lawanson said that the government was also exploring alternative modes of transportation of petroleum products to separate passenger traffic from cargo movement within the metropolis in the interest of public safety.

    The South West Chairman of NUPENG, Mr Tayo Aboyeji, while commiserating with the victims’ families, said that the union was in support of the government to put an end to tanker accidents in the state.

    The fuel tanker explosion at the Otedola Bridge inward Ojodu Berger on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, left about 54 vehicles burnt, nine people dead and an unspecified number of people sustained various degrees of injuries.

     

  • Four dead, several injured as tanker explodes on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

    There was panic on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Tuesday as a tanker loaded with fuel was hit by a container-laden truck igniting fire immediately.

    Four persons were feared while unconfirmed number of people were injured and receiving treatments at an undisclosed hospital.

    The accident occurred at Onigari Village, close to the Foursquare Gospel Church camp at Ajebo, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said the accident occurred where traffic had been diverted to a single lane on the expressway.

    He said the truck had hit the tanker by the side and spilled its contents on the road, and later caught fire.

    He said, “Four persons have been confirmed dead in the inferno, as the truck was conveying some passengers.

    “The tanker is still burning and there is gridlock on that axis of the expressway. It is terrible.”

     

    Details later…

  • Fuel scarcity: 4,501 loaded petrol tankers disappeared in December – NNPC

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru said 4,501 petrol trucks were simply untraceable, vanishing from the Nigerian radar, during the biting fuel supply crisis.

    “Due to massive diversion, hoarding, panic buying and smuggling, coupled with the information that three Direct Sales Direct Purchase Consortia had rejected October cargoes, there was insinuation of a supply gap,” he said Thursday at an investigative public hearing by a Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Downstream, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

    Baru disclosed that during the period, NNPC could not track the movement of 4,501 trucks representing the quantity of the disappeared products.

    According to him, the nation lost about 148,533,000 million litres of fuel to the suspected diversion during the December fuel crisis.

    The NNPC GMD listed some of the key factors which were responsible for the crisis to include insufficient reserve, clearance speed, supply gap, diversion, hoarding, panic buying and smuggling.

    He noted that prior to the crises, NNPC had 1.9 billion litres strategic reserve of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which would have lasted for 53 days but that due to panic buying, diversion and hoarding, the Corporation was unable to cope with the daily nation consumption of 37 million litres of PMS, which led to the presence of long queues at petrol stations across the country.

    He however said that NNPC took some urgent steps to resolve the scarcity which included but not limited to the immediate activation of war room, additional imports to increase days sufficiency, 24-hour operations in all NNPC Depots and mega stations; sustained media and stakeholders engagements; increased monitoring, surveillance and sanctions as well as production at Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries put at 3 million daily.

    Baru also used the opportunity to call on the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to review the pricing template and landing cost.

    He also asked the National Assembly to approve outstanding subsidy payments and debts to marketers.