One person has been confirmed dead after a van reportedly laden with adulterated diesel exploded in Calabar, Cross River, today.
The incident, Naija News learnt happened on Monday along the Muritala Mohammed Highway Bebobsco.
The driver of the van reportedly died at the incident scene as he could not escape the fire burning.
Vanguard reports that the mini pick up van was conveying drums of adulterated diesel to an unknown destination when the unfortunate incident occurred at the Bebobsco bus stop.
There were speed bumps on the road but the driver didn’t see them on time and was hard to stop with speed, resulting in a spark and an explosion, Naija News understands.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness who identified himself as Gilbert had told newsmen that the Mini Pick up was coming from EPZ’s direction before the tragic incident took place.
He said: “It happened while the vehicle was in motion, you know there are some speed bumps around the area due to the opening that was made last year to allow the vehicle to make a U-Turn, but the driver didn’t observe and had to stop abruptly, this led to the explosion.
“We suspect he was carrying adulterated Diesel because a normal product cannot explode like that, the conductor was fortunate as he was rushed to the hospital but the driver wasn’t so lucky as he was burnt beyond recognition while the mini pick up burnt to ashes.”
The accident was said to have caused heavy gridlock on the highway as commuters tried to help the burning driver put off the fire but their efforts were futile as both the driver and his vehicles as well as the product he was carrying were all consumed by the raging fire.
It took about 20 minutes before the Federal Fire Service Operations truck got to the scene of the incident and then put off the fire.
Confirming the incident, Head of Operations, Federal Fire Service, Cross River, Mr Clement Bassey told Vanguard on the telephone that they acted swiftly after learning of the incident.
He also confirmed that one of the occupants had already died before they got to the scene.
“The information I got from the office is that the man has already died before our men got there. So far what we learnt was that the vehicle exploded on motion and the driver was burnt to aches,” he said.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News