Eleven people have sustained varying degrees of burns following a petrol tanker explosion in Oluku, Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.

The victims were rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital after the tanker, which reportedly fell in the morning, exploded at about 1 pm on Thursday while residents were scooping fuel from it.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that the fuel spilt from the tanker flowed into nearby drainage channels around which shops had been erected at Oluku Market.

He added that the fire spread to shops in the market and affected vehicles caught in the ensuing chaos.

“I was also among those scooping the fuel. I escaped by whiskers. It was a soldier who called me and drew my attention to the fact that the weather was sunny and the way people rushed to scoop the fuel could ignite a fire.

“As I looked back after he spoke to me, the tanker burst into flames as people around the area ran for their lives. I thank the soldier; if not, I would have been burnt by now,” the eyewitness said.

The source added that two men from northern Nigeria who were directly beneath the tanker were burnt, while shops built over the drainage channels were also razed.

“We are yet to know the number of people who died. However, 10 people were rushed to the emergency unit of the UBTH,” the source said.

However, when PUNCH Online visited the UBTH, the hospital management had mobilised emergency services to attend to the victims brought in from the scene.

The Chief Medical Director of UBTH, Prof. Idia Ize-Iyamu, took charge of the emergency response, leading teams across the accident and emergency and burns units to stabilise critically injured victims and minimise fatalities.

Personnel of the Edo State Fire Service were also at the scene, making efforts to extinguish the fire.