A fire outbreak on Sunday evening devastated a petrol station near Boromeo Roundabout in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State.
A resident said a petrol-laden tanker exploded and burst into flames while waiting to discharge fuel at the station.
The eyewitness said that heavy traffic on Awka Road in the city delayed the arrival of fire fighters who later battled to contain the raging inferno.
DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, Anambra State Police Command Spokesman. confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria.
Ikenga said that police personnel attached to the Inland Town Divisional Headquarters, Onitsha had arrived the scene and cordoned it off to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the incident to loot.
Ikenga said preliminary investigation revealed that the truck caught fire inside the fuel station while awaiting to have its content offloaded.
He said the cause of the explosion, extent of damage and number of casualties have yet to be ascertained.