Rivers tanker explosion not caused by ongoing road rehabilitation

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has dismissed claims that the ongoing rehabilitation of the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State was the reason for last Friday’s carnage which claimed five lives.
Umahi made this statement while briefing newsmen when he led a delegation of some officials of the Federal Ministry of Works to visit the scene of the tanker fire in Eleme on Wednesday evening.
He urged the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, to erect checkpoints aimed at monitoring drivers who are on hard drugs and those who abuse substances, including alcoholic liquor.
Reporters recalls that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, after receiving briefs from the relevant agencies, said five persons lost their lives, while a total of 120 vehicles were destroyed in the inferno, which he described as an avoidable carnage.
Expressing his condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones, Umahi also sympathized with the government and people of the state over the incident which he described as unfortunate.