•An explosion
No fewer than five people were injured today when a cooking gas section of the Nobpet Filling Station located opposite the Air Force junction in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, exploded and went up in flames.
It was gathered that fire from the explosion quickly spread and torched about eight vehicles belonging to a transport company close to the station, reports The Nation.
Sources at the scene said it took the combined efforts of the Rivers State Fire Service and the Nigerian Air Force Fire Service to quench the inferno.
One of the victims, Emmanuel Ninyaegwu, a commercial driver, whose 18-seater bus was destroyed by the fire, said he was preparing to load his vehicle alongside his pregnant wife when the explosion occurred.
He said: “I was getting ready to load my vehicle from Port Harcourt to Ebonyi State, when the incident occurred. As I was opening my car boot, I heard the sound and I fell down, got up, and ran away. It damaged my vehicle. Some people got injured, including me, but nobody died.
“Some people, who got injured were taken to the hospital. There was an ambulance that came in from the Air Force. They treated some people.
“Fire Service came, when they came, their water got finished, so help came from the Air Force, that was when they put out the fire. Before the fire service came, the people around tried to put out the fire, but they couldn’t because it was too much and everyone was running for their lives”.
Another victim, Anthony Ofoke, said two of his vehicles were destroyed by the explosion, describing it as devastating.
He said: “It was a calamity and an unexpected thing that just happened, I have never experienced such. After loading three vehicles, by the time I came back from the office, I heard the sound of the explosion, it was a bomb.
“I didn’t know what to do, but to run for my life. Before I could realise myself, look at where I got injured. My vehicles were affected, one of my buses and a Sienna. As I speak, I am still shaken from the incident. The fire service people dressed the injury for me”.
Ofoke urged the government to stop people from locating filling stations close to residential areas.
“My appeal is for the government to stop them from building filling stations close to where people are living, before it will happen next time”, he said.
