Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has expressed grief over the fire disaster on the East-West road that caused loss of lives and destroyed several vehicles on Friday night.

The incident which occurred about 7.30pm Friday was caused by a Petrol-laden tanker which exploded leading to loss of lives with several vehicles burnt beyond repair.

Many people were trapped in the fire either inside their vehicles or while trying to escape.

Governor Fubara after inspection of the scene at Aleto, Eleme area near Indorama said when he got information about the fire incident on Friday night he quickly dispatched the security agencies to step in. He described  the incident as unfortunate and commiserated with those that lost their loved ones and vehicles as a result of the inferno.

“In fact, I got the information through the MD of Indorama and I immediately alerted the security agencies to make sure that they step in. And from what we are seeing this morning, it wasn’t a pleasant situation.

“From what I am seeing, we recorded a huge number of vehicles destroyed and souls lost. But I have already asked the security agencies to give us a full brief so that we can assess the situation fully and see what we can do to support the families that are bereaved and how to cushion the effects of the losses which we believe is no fault of a good number of them.”

Gov. Fubara who was accompanied on the visit by the Commissioner for Energy, Hon. Uche Nwafor urged commuters on the East-West road to be cautious as the situation of the road calls for carefulness, adding that the disaster would have been avoided if motorists also behaved properly.