A pregnant woman and three children were among the 20 victims reportedly burnt to death in a petrol tanker explosion in Ore, capital of Odigbo LGA of Ondo state.
Odunlami Ibukun, spokesperson of the Ondo police command, said the incident occurred on Sunday evening.
The police spokesperson said the fuel tanker fell and people rushed to scoop petrol when it exploded.
“Yes, the fuel tanker fell, some people went there to scoop fuel, in the process the tanker exploded. 8 people were confirmed dead as at yesterday evening,” Ibukun said.
A witness who craved anonymity said the explosion was triggered by a spark from the phone of one of the persons who went to scoop the fuel.
“We were inside the church when we heard that tanker fell. The rain was also falling. People were taking fuel when fire started after a spark from a phone,” the witness said.
“Three children died and we counted over 15 bodies. A pregnant woman that wanted to buy the fuel also died.”
The incident comes weeks after 11 persons were burnt to death after a truck had a head-on collision with a passenger bus on Soka bridge, along the Benin-Ore expressway in Odigbo.
