According to the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), a car collision was the cause of the fire incident that occurred on the Eleme axis of the East-West Road in Rivers State. It caused considerable property damage as well as fatalities.

Francis Dimkpa, the State Chairman of PETROAN, clarified that the petrol truck’s valve opened due to a heavy-duty vehicle hitting it from behind in a traffic jam.

In an interview with ZINGTIE, Dimkpa said that the heat from the impact ignited the spilt petrol, starting a fire and an explosion.

Concerned about the occurrence, Dimkpa underlined that routine road repair would have avoided such a catastrophe, bringing to mind PETROAN’s several requests that the government fix the road.

“The pain is such that the lives and properties loss would have been avoidable.

“Assuming all our cries, all our shouting, all our advocacy had been taken seriously, and that road fixed to standard, that accident would have been avoided.”

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Additionally, Dimkpa voiced concern over the false information being shared by certain non-eyewitnesses that a tanker explosion triggered the fire incident.

Dimkpa said that the association would meet to decide on the best course of action in response to the losses experienced by PETROAN members and the broader public.

”It’s even more painful to us, the members of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, that persons who were not eyewitnesses were saying the fire was caused by an explosion, tanker explosion.

“Our members who were present at the incident confirmed to us that the fire was caused by an accident owing to the traffic. The hustle and pulling of traffic challenge. That was what ignited the fire.

“The tanker explosion was much later when the fire had escalated. So people should not give the wrong news that the fire was caused by a tanker explosion because that is not what led to the fire.

“The fire was caused by a road accident, due to the traffic hustle and pulling on that Eleme Road that is substandard, that is below National and international acceptance. That is painful to the people of Rivers State and to the people of Nigeria who navigate along that road day and night.

“We have decried that situation, we have complained about that situation, and we are pained.

“The association will go back to its congress to decide on what to do, following the loss our members have suffered, and the general public have suffered as a result of this accidental fire, which was not in any way caused by tanker explosion. It was caused by an accident on that bad road”, he added.

The Sector Commander pledged to send updates as soon as possible when ZINGTIE phoned the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Rivers State Command, to inquire about the number of casualties. 

The number of deaths lost is unknown as of when this report was filled out. 

However, according to ZINGTIE, the fire incident destroyed multiple cars, and some people were spotted stuck in vehicles that were already irreparably damaged. 

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