About ten people have been killed when a tanker caught fire after colliding with a trailer in Zing Taraba State on Wednesday.
It was gathered that more than 30 people were injured while many houses were burnt down .
According to an eye witness, Aminu Yusuf,a trader in Zing, told reportngr.com that the tanker, which was loaded with petrol was heading to Yola, Adamawa State, when it collided with a trailer and immediatelyburst into flames. killing several people and burning residential and business structures.
Amina said, “The tanker was on high speed and eventually lost control. The tanker’s brakes must have failed. It rammed into a moving trailer and immediately burst into flames”
Another witness said that he saw a man riding on a motorcycle ahead of the tanker telling people to leave the road because the tanker had lost its brakes.
It was said that a pregnant woman and many others were among those caught in the inferno.
Amina, who could not ascertain the number of casualties, said the accident happened in the heart of the town on a market day when people were buying and selling.
She further said that many houses, shops, motorcycles, and other valuables were razed by the fire.
The police in Taraba on Thursday, however, said 10 people died in the crash.
Police in Taraba state disclosed that ten people on the average died while about 20 were injured.
“We recovered eight dead bodies after the accident, but later in the evening, we discovered a burnt corpse inside one of the vehicles. This morning (Thursday), one of the injured persons died on his way to the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo.
“So, altogether we have recorded 10 deaths from the accident. I can also confirm to you that many houses and shops were burnt because the accident happened in a densely populated area; more so, it was on a market day,” he said.
About three weeks ago, a truck had crushed the state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Revd. Ben Ubeh, to death in the same town. Residents called on road safetyofficials to look into the recklessness of some drivers plying that road.
