A gas station located at the Savoy Awka Road axis of Onitsha, Anambra State, exploded on Sunday night, leaving many people injured, while about 15 vehicles were burnt. While two petrol filling stations were badly affected by the explosion, two other filling stations were saved by men of Anambra Fire Service who promptly responded to distress calls.

An eyewitness said the explosion, which caused an earth-shaking noise, occurred around 7:30pm, and a mechanic workshop sharing boundaries with the two affected filing stations was also consumed by the fire which ensued.

Two versions of eyewitnesses account said the fire was caused by a phone call during the discharge of gas in the station, while another version said the explosion was caused by a diesel tanker that brought in products in another nearby petrol station and started discharging the contents while the vehicle was still hot.

When Daily Sun visited the scene yesterday, charred skeletons of vehicles and debris of burnt houses and petrol pump equipment littered everywhere. Many were said to have sustained injuries when the gas tank exploded and its contents splashed everywhere.

Fire Chief, Anambra State Fire Service, Martin Agbili, said he mobilised his men with four fire fighting trucks to the scene on getting the distress call and they worked tirelessly till 1.25am, on Monday morning, when the fire was finally quenched and also prevented from spreading to nearby filling stations and buildings.

Meanwhile, Anambra State Government has sealed and taken possession of the fuel station, Chris Tee and Silver Fuel Station, which was gutted by fire.

Governor Willie Obiano, who gave the directive when he visited the scene, directed law enforcement agencies to close down fuel stations in the state where gas skits are cited. The governor explained that he got Intel that the fire was ignited when the dealers were in the process of offloading and discharging cooking gas.

However, he expressed happiness at the response time by the fire service and security agencies and warned dealers to desist from building gas skits within their premises.

Source: The Sun