Nigeria: Tanker explosion burns down 3 gas stations

The explosion of a fuel tanker in Onitsha, Nigeria, caused a fire that burnt down three filling stations, fifteen residential buildings and over thirty cars.

A fuel tanker driving through the commercial city of Onitsha around 8 pm failed to brake, crashing into a Mobil gas stations and setting off an explosion that affected nearby cars and buildings. Two surrounding filling stations were also damaged by the fire.

Many have criticized the presence of gas stations in busy areas of the city asking for them to be relocated to safer spots, reports Nigeria Tribune.

“They (the stations) were built when nobody was living here but people started building around them, and now people are living near them we will provide land for their owners to relocate so that the lives of the people will not be in danger,” said the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano.

Onitsha is a city in Southern Nigeria with an estimated population of just over one million.