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ABOUT 20 persons, including a policeman were,
on Tuesday night, burnt to death, when a petrol tanker crashed and exploded in
Kudu village, on Bida-Mokwa road in Niger State.
According to an eyewitness, the fuel laden tanker was
said to have lost control while negotiating a bend across the village.
The source informed the Nigerian Tribune that a
policeman was killed in the incident, while he was allegedly trying to rescue
some trapped victims while the tanker exploded.
Chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Jiya Sonfada,
while confirming the incident in a telephone interview, said several people who
were injured in the disaster are currently receiving treatment at the general
hospitals in Mokwa and Kutigi.
He said houses and other valuables worth several
millions of naira were consumed in the inferno emanating from the fuel
spillage.
Sonfada added that the council would see that the
injured received adequate medical care, while he condoled with the families of
the deceased, praying God to give them the fortitude to bear the losses.
Also, the village head of Kudu, Alhaji Alhassan Kudu,
described the incident as “a great disaster in history,” while he
sympathised with the families of the deceased.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr
Pius Edobo, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, confirmed the incident,
but claimed ignorance of the death of a police officer in the death.
“The command was not aware of the death of one of its
officers,” he said, while he promised to find out.
Meanwhile, a mass burial for the deceased took place at
Kudu village, arranged by the council.