Several shops and vehicles have been destroyed following the explosion of a fuel tanker on the Ibadan Expressway.
Politics Nigeria gathered that the explosion which took place on Saturday along the Lead City University road, near the Ibadan Toll Gate left shops and vehicles worth millions of naira in ruins.
The driver of the truck and his motor boy were said to have barely escaped death during the incident which occurred at 2.45 pm.
While officials of the Oyo State Fire Service were on the ground to salvage the situation, one of the shop owners said he lost everything in the inferno.
Narrating the incident he said, “I just heard a loud bang from outside. Initially, I mistook it for gunshots. Before I realised what was happening, the atmosphere had already been enveloped in thick smoke.
“Calls were placed to the Fire Service, but the damage had already been done before they arrived. I have lost everything to the inferno. I don’t know where to begin again,” the shop owner said.
Other residents of the area who witnessed the incident said the explosion occurred due to the diversion on the road.
They said if not for the ongoing road construction, the truck driver would not have used the access road.
“This road is riddled with potholes, which made it difficult for the truck to navigate. The car fell on its side and exploded as the driver tried to manoeuvre through a bad portion of the road.
“We thank God that no lives were lost, but the properties destroyed in the incident are unquantifiable,” one of the witnesses said.
Confirming the incident, Akinyemi Akinyinka, the general manager of the Oyo State Fire Service said personnel of the service were at the scene of the tanker explosion.
He also said that they had managed to prevent the fire from spreading around the vicinity.