Fire on Sunday night gutted a petrol station near Boromeo roundabout in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State.
It was gathered that a petrol-laden tanker exploded and burst into flames while waiting to have the fuel discharged.
According to an eye witness, heavy traffic on Awka Road delayed the arrival of fire fighters who later battled to contain the raging inferno.
Confirming the incident, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, Anambra State Police Command Spokesman, told the News Agency of Nigeria that police personnel attached to the Inland Town Divisional Headquarters, Onitsha, had arrived the scene and cordoned it off to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the incident to loot.
Ikenga also said that preliminary investigation revealed that the truck caught fire inside the fuel station while awaiting to have its content offloaded.
He added that the cause of the explosion, the extent of damage and number of casualties were yet to be ascertained.