Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah has expressed deep pains over an accident involving a fuel tanker along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, that has led to the deaths of 11 persons.
The governor, who visited the scene of the accident for an on-the-spot assessment on Saturday, said the government had already swung into action to ensure that the victims received full medical attention.
He added that steps were being taken to forestall future occurrences, including the enforcement of road rules and the repair of the damaged federal road.
Describing the accident as unfortunate, Mbah condoles with the families of the victims.
He further directed the Federal Road Safety Commission’s (FRSC) Sector Commander in Enugu, Mr Franklin Agbakoba, and the State Commissioner for Transport, Mr Obi Ozor, to ensure that all tankers conveying inflammable substances in the state were fitted with anti-spill locks to prevent spills in the event of accidents.
“This is an accident involving a tanker that preliminary investigations show may have had a brake failure, fell down, had its product, premium motor spirit, spilled from the tank, and ignited. So, this is for us a tragedy where we have some casualties.
“But as I said, investigations are still at preliminary stages. The police and other law enforcement agencies are on it. We want to get to the root of this to understand the true cause of the accident.
“In the meantime, we have moved those that are in need of treatment to the hospitals for full medical attention. My Commissioner for Health, my Special Adviser on Health, the Chief Medical Director of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital (ESUTTH), Parklane, Enugu, the police, and the Federal Road Safety Corps are all involved. They have my instruction to ensure that maximum medical attention is given to the survivors,” Mbah said.
He said also, “But we’re also taking quick measures as a government. I have just been speaking with the head of the Federal Road Safety Corps to make sure they enforce the rules that prohibit tanker drivers from the road without an anti-spill lock. Tankers conveying premium motor spirit and inflammable products must have an anti-spill lock to ensure that when these trucks fall down, they do not spill. It is very important.
“Also, for us as a government, we are going to be looking at how we can deploy some traffic rules to ensure that we do not have a recurrence of this.
“We are obviously not going to wait for the federal government to fix the other section of the road. We, as a government, are going to take steps to ensure that whatever needs to be done on that section of the federal road is done immediately so we never have a recurrence of this.”
While briefing the governor on some of the preliminary investigations conducted by the FRSC, the Sector Commander for Enugu explained that the tanker spill was a result of a brake failure.
He added that 11 people lost their lives at the scene, while injured road users were rushed to the hospital for treatment. He thanked the governor for showing leadership by rushing to the scene and undertaking to cover the medical bills.