Residents, customers and motorists were thrown into panic on Thursday morning after a petroleum and cooking gas filling station along the Bukuru Expressway in Jos, Plateau State, was engulfed by fire.
The affected station, popularly known as Chill Cherry Filling Station, is located a short distance from the Jos South Local Government Secretariat. Eyewitnesses said the fire started around the station’s main underground petroleum discharge tank, raising fears of a major explosion.
Witnesses said there were no firefighters at the early stage of the incident, as staff of the filling station were seen making frantic efforts to control the blaze.
A passer-by, who identified himself as Maman, said residents and motorists were alarmed by the sudden outbreak of fire at the station.
Customers and passers-by reportedly fled the area in fear for their lives, particularly because the station also operates a cooking gas outlet.
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Emergency responder vehicles were later sighted heading towards the scene, as fire service officials moved in to contain the inferno.
Confirming the incident, the Plateau State spokesperson of the Federal Fire Service, CSF E.E. Anzolo, said personnel of the Plateau State Fire Service were on ground and actively handling the situation.
As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire had yet to be ascertained.