It was a sad day in Ibadan on Wednesday as five people met their untimely death as a tanker full of diesel crashed into many vehicles along the Apata-Abeokuta Road in Odo- Ona area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
An eyewitness said the tanker driver, who was said to have loaded diesel at the Apata depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), may have experienced break failure before losing control at Olugbode junction
This, it was gathered, was followed by its ramming the tanker into other vehicles which were moving at slow speed due to traffic congestion that usually occurs on the ever-busy road.
He said both the injured and the dead were taken to a private hospital, Oluseyi which is located very close to the scene of the incident.
He said that what made the case to be mild despite the number of casualties recorded was that the tanker was loaded with diesel, saying, “we would have been telling another story if it had been loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol”.
Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu, the spokesperson of the Oyo State Police Command, confirmed the incident, stressing that he got a distress call from somebody and made the necessary contact thereafter.
He, however, said that he was yet to get official briefing from the Divisional Police Station in the area as at press time, but promised to get back as soon as he’s through with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO).