2 killed, 3 wounded in Lagos tanker fire

Two persons were confirmed dead while three others sustained serious burns when a truck loaded with 33,000 litres of petroleum product fell yesterday at Barracks bus stop, along the Mile 2-Badagry expressway, Lagos, and burst into flames. Five vehicles were also destroyed and a yet-to-be ascertained number of new generators worth over N100 million razed […]

Two persons were confirmed dead while three others sustained serious burns when a truck loaded with 33,000 litres of petroleum product fell yesterday at Barracks bus stop, along the Mile 2-Badagry expressway, Lagos, and burst into flames.

Five vehicles were also destroyed and a yet-to-be ascertained number of new generators worth over N100 million razed by the inferno that erupted from the spillage.

The Divisional Police Officer, Onireke police station, Barracks bus stop, Ojo, Chief Superintendent Emeka Odigwe, and two policemen sustained injuries while they were making efforts to rescue trapped victims.

The DPO was said to have slipped and fell into one of the drainages where the fire was raging as a result of the petrol spillage.

The accident caused a gridlock as vehicular movement inward and outward Mile Two on both lanes was halted by rescuers comprising policemen, soldiers from the Ojo Cantonment and officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA).

Our correspondent observed commuters trekking long distances to their distances as the road became impassable to vehicles.

Daily Trust gathered that the incident occurred at about 5am.

A commercial bus driver who plies the Mile 2-Badagry expressway, Taiwo Hameed, attributed the accident to two truck drivers he said were competing to navigate a deep gully in the middle of the road in front of the Onireke police station.

Hameed said the tanker was ahead of the second truck carrying cartons of generators. “The tanker fell as it tried to pass through the deep hole and spilled its petrol content onto the middle of the road. Hoodlums and petrol hawkers then besieged the place to scoop for fuel that was flowing into the gutters.

“Policemen who were on ground tried to scare them away, but the more they tried, the more the hoodlums scooped petrol into jerry cans. While the scooping was on, the tanker exploded, sending a huge ball of fire into the sky, trapping the second truck and three vehicles tagging behind it.

“As the fire raged, the driver of the articulated truck and his conductor strove to remove some of the generators, while some policemen and soldiers provided them with security.

“Some hoodlums who discovered that the truck was carrying generators abandoned the fuel they came to scoop and began stealing generators. They attacked the container with hammer and iron cutters,” the driver said.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, said that the two persons who died were among three persons in one of the cars trapped in the inferno.

Oti said the car was one of the vehicles used by smugglers. “The third person sustained second degree fire burns. The DPO, Onireke police station, and two of his men sustained injuries while trying to rescue trapped victims. The DPO and his boys were treated in an undisclosed hospital, while the deceased were deposited at the Igando General Hospital,” he added.

Some witnesses at the scene lamented the degenerated condition of the Mile 2-Badagry road, which was being constructed by the Lagos State government but has been abandoned, saying yesterday’s accident was the fourth at the spot in the last six months.

One witness, Okey Ndubuisi, a trader at the Alaba International Market, said, “From the look of things, we may end up sleeping on the road. That again portends another danger.”

Another trader who sells motor parts at the Trade Fair Complex, Chukamso Okudili, called on both the federal government and the Lagos State government to quickly repair the road to save motorists and commuters using it from further agony.

“It takes between three and four hours to move on this road from Iyana Oba to the Trade Fair complex, a distance that normally is less than five minutes to complete,” Okudili said.

Oti also informed that a midnight fire on Tuesday burnt the Sara Foam factory located at Kirikiri Industrial Estate, Lagos, and destroyed property worth many millions of naira.