•Police confirm three deaths
SUNRISE NEWS, Delta, July 23, 2020 No fewer than 20 persons reportedly burnt to death on Wednesday, where a petrol tanker fell and exploded near Koko Junction on the Benin/Sapele Expressway in Ethiope West council area of Delta State. Four vehicles were burnt in the incident.
Eye witnesses said the tanker spilled its content as it fell at a bad spot and residents rushed to scoop fuel gushing out from the tanker.
A truck driver, Kola Akintayo, who witnessed the incident, said another vehicle passing by scraped a metal, igniting a fire. “That was what caused the fire,” he said.
Another trucker said 17 persons died in the incident.
Officials of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and security agencies evacuated bodies and rushed the injured to a hospital in Oghara community.
The incident has caused a traffic snarl, forcing mobile policemen to take up emergency traffic control duties.
Police spokesperson Onome Onowakpoyeya however said only three persons died in the incident.