‘Battling for about a week!’ Enugu Tanker Explosion Death Toll Rises to 23

OwelekeTV — The death toll from the tanker explosion on the Ugwu-Onyeama axis of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway has risen to 23.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Enugu State Command, Franklin Agbakoba, confirmed this on Tuesday in Enugu, adding that two additional female victims had recently died while receiving treatment in hospital.

OwelekeTV recalls that the incident, which occurred on January 25 at about 11:30 am, was caused by a fuel-laden tanker that suffered brake failure, overturned, and exploded, leaving 11 road users dead before emergency responders arrived at the scene.

It was gathered that 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.

The death toll rose to 18 a day after the accident, 21 after four days, and has now reached 23.

Agbakoba stated that the two additional victims—one admitted at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla, and another at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu—succumbed to their injuries after battling for about a week.

According to him, of the five patients admitted to UNTH six days ago, one had died at the end of the month, while one female patient remains hospitalised.

“The remaining three patients in UNTH, who are from the same family, secured discharge against medical advice and relocated from the teaching hospital to seek traditional medical treatment for their injuries at home,”

he said.

Regarding the five victims admitted to ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, Agbakoba said three female victims remain hospitalised.

“Two of the admitted patients in ESUTH Teaching Hospital have been referred to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, due to severe burns,”

he said.

He further stated that of the three victims admitted to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, six days ago, one had recently died, while the two survivors had been joined by another victim referred from ESUTH Teaching Hospital.

Agbakoba had earlier disclosed that the incident involved 44 people as well as 16 vehicles, both commercial and private, and a commercial tricycle.

He added that 23 persons, including 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 the National Orthopaedic Hospital.