One Dead, Several Properties Destroyed In Plateau Hospital Fire

One person has been confirmed dead on Thursday with several properties destroyed as a fire gutted the University of Jos Veterinary Hospital in Plateau State.

The incident occurred when a fuel-laden tanker fell and exploded at the Polo roundabout area of Jos North Local Government Area of the state.

Channels Television gathered that the explosion razed burnt shops and vehicles as well as the School of Veterinary Science.

Several houses were also burnt in the inferno, a situation that forced the deployment of officials of the State Fire Service and the Police to the area.

Eyewitnesses said the tanker fell and exploded with the fire spreading into the premises of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Polo Roundabout, Jos, causing massive destruction to the building.

While the dead victim was identified as the tanker driver, the other occupant of the vehicle was been treated at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital following injuries sustained from the disaster.

The National Emergency Management Agency confirmed the incident to Channels Television in Jos.

NEMA Coordinator for North Central, Eugene Nyenlong, said the agency received a distress call of the explosion earlier in the day and raced to the scene of the accident.

“We quickly activated a team for the rescue mission. We came in the company of other critical stakeholders. What happened was that a tanker driver came in and ran into the vicinity of the university veterinary area,” he said.

“From our assessment and when we came in, the DPO was able to brief us on the situation. We lost one life which we came in to take up the corpse and handed over to the Nigeria Police for other burial rites.”

The 33,000 litres tanker was said to have taken off from Agbara in Ogun State and was heading to Gombe State en route to Jos where the vehicle had an accident.

The fire destroyed all documents and records of the veterinary teaching hospital which is a referral veterinary research institute for the north-central; leaving the management at a loss on how to access those documents.