27th December, 2012
JETHRO IBILEKE/Benin
A bus driver was burnt to death and 17 vehicles also burnt as fire from a fallen petrol tanker turned Boxing Day night into a Black day in Benin, capital of Nigeria’s Edo state.
The tragedy occurred Wednesday night along Muritalla Muhammed Way, when the driver of the petrol-laden vehicle which was travelling from the Ekiosa Market axis of Murtala Muhammed Way towards Esigie Junction apparently lost control and plunged into a gutter, with hundreds of litres of Petrol gushing out of the vehicle.
The ill-fated tanker went up in flames about 20 minutes after it fell, with the fire spreading to adjourning areas. Residents scampered into a safety, but witnesses said the dead driver, simply identified as Kingsley, died as he attempted to pull his 10-seater away from the inferno.
He was not so lucky, as the fire caught with him and burnt him to death.
However, the driver of the tanker and his conductor were rescued and taken to a hospital in Benin for medical attention.
About 17 other vehicles and five motor cycles parked along the road side were burnt by the raging inferno.