Police confirm 10 dead in petrol tanker, trailer crash

The Police in Taraba yesterday said the death toll in an auto crash in Zing which involved a petrol tanker and a trailer has risen to 10.

The crash occurred Wednesday evening in Zing town, Zing local government area of the state where the petrol tanker burst into flames, destroying the tanker and spreading to outlying houses and shops and claiming lives.

Police Public Relations Officer, ASP. David Missal who gave an update in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said, “We recovered eight dead bodies after the accident, but later in the evening we discovered a burnt corpse inside one of the vehicles and this morning, one of the injured persons died on his way to the Federal Medical Center, Jalingo. I can also confirm to you that several houses and shops were burnt because the accident happened in a densely populated area, more so that it was on a market day.”

A witness, Malam Musa Sani, told our correspondent that the tanker loaded with petrol and heading to Yola in Adamawa State ran into the trailer.

“The tanker which was traveling at high speed lost control and ran into a moving trailer and immediately burst into flames. I saw a man riding on a motorcycle ahead of the tanker telling people to clear off the road, saying the tanker had lost its break system and within a blink of an eye, the tanker crashed into the moving trailer. I saw a pregnant woman and three others burning in the inferno,” he said.