Two passengers in a saloon car were feared dead early on Friday as a tanker transporting petroleum products on the Auchi-Okene Highway at Auchi, Edo, ran over it.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accident, involving a Toyota Carina 11 saloon car with registration number: Ondo AH 268 KAA and a tanker with plate number : XA 559 KRT, occurred around 8.30 a.m.
The tanker was said to be coming from Lagos and ran over the car, thereby allegedly killing the two passengers in it.
An eyewitness, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, said that the tanker driver allegedly lost control and crushed the driver and another passenger in the car.
“The tanker driver was coming from Lagos and suddenly ran over the Toyota car coming from the opposite direction, killing the two passengers inside the car,’’ he said.
A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the scene of the accident observed that the content of the tanker spilled on the surroundings after the accident, while some motorists and residents around the scene scooped the commodity.
Officials of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) later arrived at the scene to chase the people away, for fear of a possible explosion.
NAN, however, noted that the people defied the presence of the SARS officials as they continued to scoop the commodity, especially having experienced its scarcity in the area, for some time.
NAN also reports that some officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were also immediately available, to control traffic on the highway.
Some FRSC officials were directed to deposit the bodies of those feared dead in a public mortuary at Auchi, while they also made attempts to contact their families.
