By Oluwatosin Maliki
A tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol, at the Agu-Awka Junction near Awka, in Anambra State, fell as some of it’s content was spilled on the road, on Friday.
Quest Times gathered that the accident happened late Friday, when the tanker’s brake failed as the driver struggled to navigate through the bad portions of the road.
Fortunately, no life was lost and no disaster was recorded due to the swift response of the Anambra State Fire Service, who arrived at the scene on time and neutralised the flowing PMS to prevent it from catching fire.
Furthermore, it was learnt that security operatives were equally present to prevent members of the public from gaining access to the scene of the crash to scoop petrol.
While, confirming the incident, the Fire Chief, Martin Agbili, appreciated the Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps, and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, who he said were able to prevent the disaster as well as control the crowd and traffic to enable firefighters to do their job seamlessly.
However, the chief emphasized that transporting of petrol tankers by drivers was completely done during the night in order to avoid accidents from occuring.
He stated, “On Friday 17-11-2023, the Anambra State Fire Service received a distress call of a fallen tanker loaded with PMS at Agu-Awka junction due to brake failure of the tanker”.
He explained “Our two fire trucks and firefighters were immediately deployed to the incident scene for the rescue operation. With the application of water and chemical foam compound, the flowing PMS was diluted to prevent it from catching fire”.
“No life was lost during the incident. The content of the petrol tanker was saved with little damage on the truck and the PMS’s trans-loading was completely done at night”.
“Appreciation to the Officers of Nigeria Police Force, FRSC, and NSCDC who were there for crowd and traffic control to enable firefighters to do a perfect job,” he added.