IT was wailing and lamentation by the people of Owena-Ijesa, a town in Osun State, that shares boundary with Ondo State last week Friday, when some parts of the town was engulfed in fire due to a petroleum tanker that went up in flames after losing control and falling and subsequently emptying its contents.When Community News visited the scene of the fire incident, a man who witnessed the incident, explained that more than ten people were burnt beyond recognition, while many others indigenes of the town sustained varying degree of injury as a result of the thick fire from the petroleum tanker.Asked to explain how the incident happened, the eye witness, who identified himself as Mr Onaolapo Mathew, said the fire explosion from the petroleum tanker occurred around 7.30 a.m last week Friday, an eve of the rescheduled national assembly election.The man, stated that people of the town were busy doing their businesses when they suddenly saw a fully-loaded petroleum tanker trying to pack on the major road that leads to Ondo State.He said initially, few people that were conscious of the scenario thought the petroleum tanker driver wanted to pack the vehicle to have some rest but not knowing that the tanker had developed a mechanical fault. But when the driver did all he could to halt the articulated vehicle, the head of the trailer forcefully detached from the rest of the body.The driver managed to drive away the front side from the spot apparently realising that it was close to peoples houses, but the trailer lost control, left the main road and headed towards the centre of the town. Moving without anybody controlling it, it had a collision with another stationary truck and in the process, disposed its content which immediately caught fire with a heavy explosion which forced many indigenes of the town to run for safety, he stated.Speaking further, Onaolapo said apart from over ten people who were burnt to death, fifteen other vehicles were also consumed by the inferno, while many houses, 18 shops and the headquarter of the Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) church in the town were also razed down by the fire.Also lamenting about the inferno, an indigene of the town, Mr Rasheed Kazeem, told Community News that he was able to count over twenty people that sustained serious burns in a nearby hospital.According to him, the fire was too heavy simply because it was a petroleum tanker. Although we did our best to put out the fire, but it overpowered us. Even the fire brigade could not extinguish the fire.But we learnt that the driver of the trailer had reported himself at the police station at the Igbara-Oke town.He also complained that several properties worth millions of naira were lost by the people of Owena town to the fire incident, stressing that the only thing that was not consumed by the fire was a Holy Bible inside the C&S church.A victim of the fire incident, Mr Adeniran Waheed, told Community News that all his property, including a cash of N200,000 were consumed by the fire. Im a fashion designer, I lost everything and I dont know what to do again. In fact, I just collected the money and everything I had including my work tools were consumed by the fire, he lamented.Some people of the town, who spoke with Community News on the incident, counted their loses. The people of the town, had, however, appealed to Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to come to their aid.
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