Residents flee homes as fuel tanker catches fire in Wa

A fuel tanker with registration number GT-4197-09 has gutted fire at Ga, a community in the Wa West District in the Upper West Region.

The tanker was believed to be carrying about 36,000 litres of petrol from Bupei to Wa where the vehicle was engulfed in fire upon reaching Ga.

The incident which scared residents forced many of them to flee their homes for their lives while others also managed to close their shops. The incident was believed to have happened around 4pm on Saturday.

The head of the vehicle went completely burnt after it was on fire for over 30 minutes.

The Upper West Regional Fire service, however, intervened to stop the tank itself containing the petrol from further damages.

The driver and the mate were unhurt as they also ran for their lives leaving the doors of the vehicle opened.

According to the driver Suleman Mohammed, the fire started from the gear lever as a result of an electrical fault.