Fire guts NNPC mega station

 

Three persons on Thursday sustained various degree of injuries following the outbreak of fire at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mega Station in Abuja.

Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the fire started when a fuel tanker was discharging petroleum product into one of the underground storage tanks.
A spark caused the explosion which occurred from the tanker, emitting thick smoke and fire into the air, causing serious commotion.
Although, no casualties were recorded, the tanker driver and his motor boy were said to have sustained injuries.
The fire also affected a lady’s car which was burnt along with the tanker while buying fuel.
The woman also sustained head injuries while trying to escape with her family members who were in the car.
Fire fighters from the Federal Fire Service, NNPC, FCT Fire Service and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) battled to put out the fire which lasted for about 45 minutes.
Mr Imeh Eyo, Operation Commander, Federal Fire Service, who spoke to NAN at the scene of the incident, attributed the cause of the fire to atmospheric conditions.
"The incident was as result of the atmospheric condition which is at the peak now and it is not favourable.
"The tanker came to discharge its content and this happened, though we cannot quantify the loss now, but we are happy that there was no death,’’ he said.
The managing director of NNPC Retail Stations, Mr Bello Farouk, said that investigation was going on to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Farouk, however, said those who sustained injury in the incident had been taken to the hospital for treatment.
"We have been busy investigating the cause of the fire, but what we will say is that the situation has been handled well, we have used our firefighting equipment very well and followed firefighting procedure.
"We commend the NNPC firefighting department for prompt response and investigation will be carried out as to know what caused the incident and we will take steps to forestall future reoccurrence.
"We are happy that the fire was well controlled and there have been very limited damaged, there have been wounds sustained by the driver and the motor boy and they are receiving treatment."
Meanwhile, the police and other security operatives were on hand to control the surging crowd.