A tanker on Thursday, with an 33,000 estimated liters of diesel exploded around Ariaria junction along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Aba, Abia State.
Though no life was lost in the fire that raged for three hours, men of the Abia State Fire Service mobilised to the scene were attacked by an angry mob.
It was gathered that the truck lost control and damaged two commercial tricycles and a commercial bus.
An Eyewitness said, "The cars were coming from the opposite direction because they were using one lane.
"The Ariaria junction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway is bad. But the drivers in an attempt to drag who will stop for each other clashed.
"They didn’t have head-on-collision. What happened is that part of the trailer hit the other truck, causing the content to spill as a result of the impact of the clash.
"The weather is already hot and when the body of the two trucks clashed, it sparked light and when the diesel spilled, it ignited fire which resulted to the inferno.
"The truth is that the men of the fire service were not able to do much as the flame was already too much by the time they came and while they were going, Aba residents started throwing stones at them.
"I think that it was as a result of accumulated anger that caused the attack on the fire servicemen.
"Like I said, it was not their fault. Their water finished, maybe, they were not expecting the kind of fire that they met at the scene."
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