Three people were reported killed and 10 vehicles burnt as an NNPC accredited fuel station got engulfed by fire Saturday evening in Kaduna.
Eyewitnesses said the fire started around 5:09 p.m. and raged for over three hours.
Alhaji Babangida Kinkinau, owner of a shop near the NNPC accredited fuel station (formerly Fasada Fuel station), said the incident occurred while in the process of discharging fuel by a tanker.
He said: “One of the compartments of the tanker was leaking fuel while in the process of discharge. I rushed to the scene with a bucket to assist as the manager of the fuel station uses rag to block the leakage.
“Unfortunately, the fire was triggered from the fuel that flowed on the main road, which engulfed eight cars and two commercial buses on queue; the tanker and the fuel station got burnt as well as a girl and two men were killed.
“I managed to remove my car from inside the fuel station, but we are in a state of fear because the fire is still raging. We hope the fire will be put under control before it escalates into Kinkinau residential area.”
Fire fighters from the Kaduna State Fire Service and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) are current battling to quench the fire.
An official of the Kaduna State Fire Service confirmed the death of the three people.
He, however, said the remote cause of the fire cannot be immediately ascertained.
“Currently, we are more concern to bring the fire under control. Investigation will later reveal the remote cause of the fire,” he said.
Many residents of Kinkinau GRA, where the fuel station is located opposite Ungwan Muazu, Nnamdi Azikwe Way, are in a state of confusion, as the fire escalates. NewsExpress
