THE FIRE INCIDENT IN ONITCHA LESS THAN 24 HOURS AGO DESTROYED OVER 30 VECHILES...

A tanker fire has destroyed no fewer than 10 houses and 30 vehicles near Dennis Memorial Grammar School in

Onitsha,Anambra State. However, the statues of a former President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, near  the scene of the fire, was not torched, while virtually every standing object near the statue was burnt in the Wednesday fire.

Commercial activities were grounded in the city on Thursday following the fire.

 An eyewitness said the fire started at about 9.30pm on Wednesday after a fuel-laden tanker, which was negotiating a bend at the DMGS junction near a filling station, fell.The source said the inferno affected part of a popular building, known as Kamo Plaza, where two banks have offices, adding that a minimal damage was done.

 Mrs. Chinelo Onyeuna, a victim and Manager of Bencash Investment Nigria Limited, a company dealing in electronics and furniture, said she lost items worth N100m to the inferno.

“Just look at our plaza now, it has burnt down. Government should stop people operating filling stations near residential buildings,” Onyeuna said.She appealed for assistance from the state government to cushion the effect of the fire.

The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, who visited the scene of the incident, said  a panel of inquiry would be  set up  to look into the disaster, adding that the Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, would head the panel .

The governor said the state government would take care of those who sustained injuries.

Punch newspaper