ive persons died in the early hours of October 1 when a petrol tanker fell and went up in flames on the Ologbo end of the Sapele-Benin express road.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Bright Edafe, confirmed the deaths, saying two tankers and five trailers were among vehicles razed.

He said: “In the fire incident that occurred, we recorded five deaths, eight buses, two tankers, five trailers, two cars and one motorcycle were burnt completely.”

Locals reportedly rushed to the tanker when it fell to scoop petrol and a fire erupted suddenly, killing at least five of them.

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori expressed sadness at the tanker explosion which claimed lives. He went on to blame the incident on the poor state of federal roads.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Festus Ahon, commiserated with the families of the deceased victims of the incident, calling on the Federal Government to expedite action in reconstructing failed portions of the road.

He said: “In the early hours of today, we got information that an explosion occurred at Koko junction along the Warri-Benin expressway. On behalf of the government and people of Delta State, I commiserate with families of the victims who lost their lives to the inferno.

“This sad and unfortunate incident would have been avoided if the Federal Government had lived up to it responsibility of maintaining their roads.

“While I mourn the deceased, I use this medium to reiterate my earlier call on the Federal Government to save the lives of our people from these harrowing experiences.

“I also use this medium to advise our people to refrain from the dangerous act of scooping fuel from a fallen tanker because of the highly inflammable nature of the product.”

The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wale Abass, has commiserated with the families of the five victims who lost their lives in yesterday’s fire explosion.

The CP in a statement by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, said: “In the early hours of today 1/10/2023 0200hrs, the command recorded a tragic incident where a tanker laden with PMS being driven towards Benin along Warri-Benin Road fell down upon getting to Ugbenu Koko Junction.

“Its content spilled into the nearby swamp and the spillage attracted couple of youths who took advantage of the incident and started scooping the fuel into jerry cans and other containers.

“While they were at it, an explosion erupted and the fire from the explosion engulfed the whole area.

“At the event of this outburst, the scene was visited and bodies of the victims were evacuated to Oghara General Hospital’s mortuary.”