…Deputy governor cautions against indiscriminate siting of gas stations
An explosion at a gas station has killed a woman, Mrs. Onyekpandu Ekeada and her four little children and destroyed some farmlands and vegetations at the suburb of Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The incident happened after a fire broke out in Tiengo Gas Station, located in Umuoma Nekede in Owerri West council area of Imo state Wednesday night, having been triggered by a truck discharging cooking gas.
Narrating the incident to the deputy governor of Imo State, Prof. Placid Njoku, who visited the scene of the incident weekend, an eye witness, Mr Princely Onyenwe said the explosion occurred when the gas tanker was discharging its contents at the station.
He said a wave was suspected to have taken the flames to the direction of a nearby building of Mr Onyekpandu Ekeada, killing his wife and four children, who were seated in front of their building while some farm lands and vegetations were destroyed.
Gas explosion kills woman, four children in Imo
…Deputy governor cautions against indiscriminate siting of gas stations
July 4, 2020FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedInWhatsAppEmail
Damian Duruiheoma, Owerri
An explosion at a gas station has killed a woman, Mrs. Onyekpandu Ekeada and her four little children and destroyed some farmlands and vegetations at the suburb of Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The incident happened after a fire broke out in Tiengo Gas Station, located in Umuoma Nekede in Owerri West council area of Imo state Wednesday night, having been triggered by a truck discharging cooking gas.
Narrating the incident to the deputy governor of Imo State, Prof. Placid Njoku, who visited the scene of the incident weekend, an eye witness, Mr Princely Onyenwe said the explosion occurred when the gas tanker was discharging its contents at the station.
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He said a wave was suspected to have taken the flames to the direction of a nearby building of Mr Onyekpandu Ekeada, killing his wife and four children, who were seated in front of their building while some farm lands and vegetations were destroyed.
Mr. Onyenwe said there was a suspected gas leakage from the gas pipe that fumed for hours but was ignored by the managers of the station.
He disclosed that a patrol station also caught fire in the area a month back, expressing worry at the siting of petrol and gas stations in residential areas.
The deputy governor, Prof. Placid Njoku condemned indiscriminate siting of petrol and gas stations in residential areas of the state.
He said the state government was saddened to receive the news of the death of Imolites under such circumstances adding that government would review the situation and put appropriate measures to ensure that such incident did not repeat itself.
“We will put measures in place and implement existing laws to ensure the state does not loose its citizens to the careless establishment by people who do not want to obey very simple rules of the state”, he said.
Prof. Njoku was accompanied to the site of the inferno by the State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Rajid Ibrahim.
Credit: The Nation