2 persons burnt to death in Lagos tanker fire
Two persons, including a pregnant woman, were burnt to death in a fire caused by spillage from a fallen petroleum tanker at the Oke-Afa area of Ejigbo, Lagos. Our correspondent gathered that the tanker was heading inward Isolo late on Monday when it fell on its side on reaching a bad spot at Oke-Afa, spilling […]
Two persons, including a pregnant woman, were burnt to death in a fire caused by spillage from a fallen petroleum tanker at the Oke-Afa area of Ejigbo, Lagos.
Our correspondent gathered that the tanker was heading inward Isolo late on Monday when it fell on its side on reaching a bad spot at Oke-Afa, spilling its petroleum product content into a drainage and unto the road.
The accident hampered free flow of traffic, in which passengers were trapped for many hours. It was learnt that motorists and commuters were still stuck in the gridlock by 2am yesterday.
The traffic hold-up lingered till yesterday morning, and to ease it, commercial bus drivers were understood to have removed the barricade that prevented vehicular flow outward Ikotun.
Witnesses said that in drivers’ bid to meander through the only bridge leading into Ejigbo from Isolo, a spark occurred, prompting vehicles to hurriedly make a u-turn.
A mechanic at the refuse dump in the area, Taiwo Ashiru, said that unfortunately for one of the bus drivers, he reversed right into a pool of the spilled petroleum and ignited fire. Ashiru said that some passengers sustained varying degrees of burns in their bid to scamper out of the vehicle.
“Unfortunately, a pregnant woman and the driver of the bus were burnt in the process,” he added.
A commuter, Chidi Nwabundu, narrated, “Perhaps, this incident would have been averted had some of the passengers not urge our driver to take the route. The bus was coming from Ikotun but I boarded it at the NNPC bus-stop.
“There was a heated argument among the passengers on whether or not the driver should take the barricaded road. Some passengers were against it, while others urged him on because they claimed they were already late for work.
“Before we knew it other vehicles in front started reversing in a hurry, with some of the passengers jumping out and shouting fire. Our driver also made an attempt to leave the place, but to our shock, our bus ignited fire. I jumped out and hit my knee on the floor. I hurriedly stood up and continued running. I can’t tell how I managed to run to a safe place. By the time I got to a safe place and looked back, the whole vehicle had been engulfed by fire.”