A fire from a petrol tanker has razed a part of a filling station in Ogidi town, near Onitsha, Anambra State.

It was gathered that the fire started at about 11am on Friday when a petrol tanker discharging its content at the filling station sparked fire.

The incident caused pandemonium around the area as residents and passers-by scampered to safety.

It took firefighters of the Anambra Fire Service some hours to successfully put off the fire and prevent it from escalating.

No life was lost as a result of the fire. The cost of damages could not be immediately ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

An eyewitness who did not give his name said, “There was pandemonium in the entire area in Ogidi. The petrol tanker was discharging fuel at the filling station when a small spark of fire was noticed, and before it could be  extinguished, the tanker was already in flame, burning down the filling station.”

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The Anambra State Fire Service chief, Mr Martin Agbili, who confirmed the incident, said that his men had successfully put out the fire.

He said, “At about 9.53am today (Friday), we received a distress call of a fire outbreak at a petrol filling station at 7th Mile, Ogidi.

“Our fire trucks and firefighters were deployed in the scene. Both state and federal fire services were there to fight the fire. The fire has been completely controlled and extinguished now. There was no loss of life.

“The fire affected the tanker. The cause of the fire outbreak was a result of a spark from the pumping ground during their transloading process.

“We will continue to tell petrol filling station owners to stop discharging and transloading under the intensity of the sun or during the day. This practise is best done in the night or at the early hours of the morning.”