FIC Report (Enugu State) – Death toll from the petrol tanker explosion on the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway has risen from 21 to 23, according to Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
Sector Commander of FRSC, Enugu State Command, Mr Franklin Agbakoba, told newsmen in Enugu on Tuesday, February 4, that an additional two female victims died recently while on hospital admission.
It would be recalled that the incident, which happened on Saturday, January 25, about 11:30 a.m. when a fuel-laden tanker had a brake failure, fell and exploded, left 11 road users dead before emergency responders came to the scene.
The deceased were evacuated by FRSC officers after officials of the Enugu State Fire Service extinguished the inferno, while the injured were taken to hospitals within Enugu for treatment.
Other sources, however, claimed that about 70 persons were roasted in the fire arising from the explosion;some of the victims reportedly due to collateral involvement.
According to official sources, the death toll rose to 18 persons after a day of the accident, 21 after four days and now, 23 persons.
Agbakoba said that the additional two victims – one being admitted at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, and another being admitted at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu – could not make it after battling for life for about a week.
According to him, of the five admitted in UNTH six days ago, one died at the end of the month and one female is still on admission there presently.
“The remaining three patients in UNTH who are of the same family, secured discharge even against medical advice, relocated from the teaching hospital to seek traditional medical treatment for their injuries at home,” he said.
Of the five victims of the accident admitted in ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu six days ago, Agbakoba said that three of the female victims are still remaining on admission at the hospital.
“Two of the admitted patients in ESUTH Teaching Hospital have been referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu due to fire burn wounds,” he said.
He said that of the three victims admitted at the National Orthopedic Hospital, one died recently and the remaining two survivors had been joined by one victim on referral from ESUTH Teaching Hospital.
“However, one of the two patients involved in the accident, referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu from ESUTH Teaching Hospital, left and did not report to where he was recently refered to,” he said.
Agbakoba had earlier disclosed that the incident involved 44 persons as well as 16 vehicles, both commercial and private and a commercial tricycle.
He said that 23 persons, which included eight males and 15 females, were injured in the accident and rushed to three major government hospitals in Enugu: UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla; ESUTH Teaching Hospital; and National Orthopedic Hospital.
Signed
Bonaventure Ngwu,
HOC Enugu
