Abuja — Pandemonium broke out yesterday in the ever busy FEBSON Mall, located at the Herbert Macaulay Way, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, when a fuel tanker went ablaze in the process of offloading.

The inferno, which started around 4:35 p.m., sent people scampering for safety, as dark smoke covered the whole area.

Within minutes, men from the Federal Fire Service arrived to battle the fire to no avail, but the effort was enough to prevent it from spiraling out of control and engulfing surrounding buildings, especially the FEBSON Mall.

However, NNPC Fire Service men, assisted by heroic men of the Civil Defence finally put off the fire to the delight of onlookers. At the end, more than 10 fire fighting vehicles belonging to Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service, NNPC Fire Service and Civil Defence, combined to deal with the situation.

Although Julius Berger sent its emergency fire service, it arrived rather late, as the fire had been put off.

When contacted, Head of Operations, Nigerian Civil Defence, Deputy Commandant-General Evans Ewurum, promised thorough investigation to discover cause of the inferno.