tanker explosion kills one in Ogun

ABEOKUTA—Tragedy struck in Abeokuta, yesterday, following an explosion at a government petroleum dump site, leaving one person dead and two injured.

The explosion occurred when a fuel tank exploded and caught fire at a construction site inside the  the premises of  Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency, OGROMA, located opposite Agbeloba House, Quarry Road, Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.

According to bricklayers working at the construction site, the victims were working on the three underground tankers being relocated from the government fuel dumps at the old secretariat, when the explosion occurred.

Other eyewitnesses said that the massive explosion could have been due to the improper management of the welding works on the underground tanks by the contractor.

An eyewitness told Vanguard that the incident occurred around 3p.m.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said the explosion occurred when one of the below-the-surface fuel tanks being worked upon by welders, exploded and reverberated through the area.

It was gathered that the deceased, identified simply as Yemi, was reportedly hit by the shrapnel of the tank on which one of the artisans was working, the impact of which threw him inside a ditch.

The eyewitness added that the tanks, which were dug out from the state government fuel dump located at Oke-Ilewo area of the capital city, were being reburied at the defunct OGROMA yard, when the explosion occurred.

Meanwhile, policemen from Adigbe Police Station later arrived the scene of the incident to evacuate the remains of the dead.

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