Delta City Bus Explosion: Commissioner puts casualty figure at 10

10 persons are feared dead, while four others survived a Delta City Bus explosion at P.T.I Road by Masodje Junction in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State on Sunday January 12, Our Senior Correspondent reports.

Delta State Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Ben Igbakpa who was at the scene of the explosion told Fresh Angle in an exclusive chat that reports available to him indicates that an unidentified woman carrying fuel boarded the vehicle with other passengers from Delta City Park at Deco Junction in Warri enroute Agbarho in Ughelli North local government area when suddenly an explosion occurred, killing 10 persons out of the 14 passengers on the spot, while four persons allegedly survived the accident along the ever busy P.T.I Road in Effurun.

Mr. Igbakpa blamed the driver for carrying a passenger with gallon of fuel and the other passengers for allowing the journey even with such imminent danger. "The right thing for the passengers to do is to tell the woman carrying the gallon of fuel that she cannot join the vehicle", the Commissioner stressed.

Chairman of Special Marshal, Delta State, Mr. Dickson Amromawhe who corroborated the commissioner’s story in an exclusive chat with Our Senior Correspondent, explained that the gallon of fuel allegedly carried by a female passenger was placed by the engine compartment of the city bus which was already over-heated and in the process causing the explosion.

He admonished drivers to be very careful and stop carrying "volatile and inflammable materials" when travelling. Mr. Amromawhe charged passengers to be "bold enough to challenge the driver or anybody that is travelling with anything strange to them".

An eyewitness who preferred anonymity said all he knew and saw was an explosion of a Delta City Bus, but before rescue team comprising the Red Cross Society, Federal Road Safety Corps and the Police could come to the rescue, ten persons had already lost their lives.

As at the time of filing this report, there are conflicting reports that 13 persons may have died in the explosion and it was not clear if the driver of the vehicle as well as his conductor lost their lives.

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