Panic as 45,000 litres of petrol spill at Kwara filling station

Panic erupted in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on Saturday after a significant spill of approximately 45,000 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) occurred at a Conoil filling station. The incident took place around 5:08 pm along the Old Jebba Road in the Maraba area.

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The valve could no longer be controlled, and a large volume of PMS subsequently spilt within the filling station and began flowing towards Post Office Road and Amilengbe Road.

The tanker, carrying PMS from Lagos, was scheduled to discharge one compartment of its load. However, the filling station management discovered a discrepancy between the expected and measured quantities. An attempt to rectify this by retrieving some of the fuel led to the valve being opened, resulting in an uncontrollable gush of petrol.

The spilled PMS flowed towards Post Office Road and Amilengbe Road, posing a significant fire hazard due to its highly flammable nature. Fortunately, no fire broke out during the incident. The Kwara State Fire Service responded swiftly, deploying chemical foam to saturate the affected areas and mitigate the risk of ignition.

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Firefighters deployed chemical foam compound to saturate the affected areas, including the filling station, Post Office Road and Amilengbe Road, thereby mitigating the possibility of rapid combustion and preventing the situation from escalating into a major fire incident.

Operatives from the Nigeria Police Force and the Kwara State Road Traffic Management Authority assisted by controlling vehicular movement to prevent access to the hazardous zone. The Chief Fire Officer commended the professional and prompt response of the firefighters, emphasizing that their timely intervention prevented a potentially catastrophic incident.

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Timely intervention played a critical role in preventing a potentially catastrophic incident.