Many people were injured following an explosion from a truck conveying the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Gwagwa community, in Abuja.
The incident took place near the popular Police Junction in the community.
Some residents who spoke to Daily Trust said the driver had suddenly parked the vehicle after perceiving odour of the content, and alerted people to run.
A resident, Sulaiman Musa, said the driver stood there for a while before he disappeared after the vehicle got engulfed in fire.
Another resident, Abdulaziz Adam, said he and other volunteers ran towards the opposite side of the road and turned the oncoming motorists and pedestrians back, an act he said had saved the situation from getting worse.
During a visit to the area on Saturday, it was gathered that many people sustained injuries in the process of trying to escape while few others experienced fire burns.
One of the victims, Usman Haruna, a wheelbarrow pusher who jumped off a bridge across Gwagwa River while escaping, got the tendon’s vein of one of his legs cut into two.
A nurse working at a hospital where he was rushed to said he was given the necessary injections, while surgery on the leg could only be carried out when he gets a sponsor.
Victims of the fire burns have resorted to traditional medication, among them Abdullahi Muhammad, a motorcycle spare parts shop owner, just behind the scene of the incident.
He had been taken back to his residence in the community even though he was still unconscious during the reporter’s visit.
Meanwhile, the FCT police command spokesperson S.P Josephine Adeh had confirmed the incident saying, there was no report of loss of life from the incident so far.