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Tanker Explodes In Lagos, Fire Razes 11 Vehicles
An explosion from two tankers loaded with petroleum products rocked the Sari Iganmu area of Lagos, Thursday night, destroying nine vehicles in the resultant inferno. The raging fire sent fear into residents of Moshood Abiola Way, opposite Fashola estate and Ijora, over possible escalation due to spillage of the combustive content.
However, no casualty was recorded according to the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, contrary to rumour that several persons were burnt to death. There were however different versions as to how the incident happened. An account said one of the trucks was stationed without a caution to alert oncoming vehicles. Driver of another truck collided with the parked truck and the impact of the collision ignited balls of fire.
Another account said a truck loaded with combustive substance was rolling back when an oncoming one loaded with detergent and sardines collided with it.
The Director Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Margret, in a statement issued at 11.20pm on Thursday,disclosed that, “Eleven vehicles were destroyed. They include: two tankers, one tipper truck, three trailers, three cars and two micro-mini buses popularly known as korope.
“While an earlier incident on the Lagos- Ibadan expressway was successfully completed having evacuated the tanker and bus without resulting to fire, same cannot be said with the Iganmu fire outbreak..
“But there was no life lost and no injury recorded, as occupants in the vehicles escaped unhurt. “The raging fire has been curtailed, the dampening of pockets of fire still continues, to allow for investigation that will reveal the cause and the evacuation of the carcass to bring about normalcy”.
Investigations according to her “revealed that a fully laden 45,000 liters tanker experienced a mechanical fault while ascending the quadrapont bridge. This led to its roll back, causing it to hit another tanker and a faulty containerized trailer, resulting in an instant explosion and fire. It is important to reiterate that lives were not lost and no injuries were recorded in this unfortunate accident”, she stressed.
South West Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said 12 high tension poles were also destroyed by the inferno.
Farinloye earlier warned residents of Moshood Abiola Way through Sifax, down to Ijora Under bridge and Apapa to suspend use of naked fire, as it could spark up another fire due to spillage of the product into drainage in their communities. He also advised against the use of streams and tributary of any rivers for washing or bathing .
Hours later, he declared that, “the environment is quite safe now. People can start their normal life by cooking and other activities they wish to do”.
LASG officials visit scene.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Lagos State Governor, Babajjide Sanwo-Olu, visited the scene yesterday to assess the extent of the disaster. Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Margret, who received the delegation, led them on a tour of the scene. The ongoing evacuation operation according to Margret, “would lead to the reopening of the Moshood Abiola Way, which connects the dual-quadrapont bridge in Iganmu, Lagos, soon”.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra State Sector Command, has confirmed the death of a woman in an accident at Okpoko Market on the Asaba-Onitsha Road.
The Sector Commander, Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, who confirmed the accident to journalists in Awka on Thursday, said that the woman was hit while she was crossing the road.
He said that the accident, which occurred on Wednesday, involved a commercial tow truck with registration number XA550BMA.
“Eyewitness report reaching us indicates that the truck was towing a vehicle in an uncontrollable speed along the axis.
“The vehicle that was being towed got detached from the tow truck.
“It hit and killed a female adult, who was said to be crossing the road, while the tow truck continued its movement.
“FRSC rescue team came to the scene and took the woman to Toronto Hospital, Onitsha, where she was confirmed dead and her body deposited at the hospital’s mortuary,” he said.
While sympathising with the family of the dead, the sector commander urged motorists, especially tow truck drivers, to exercise a high level of professionalism.
He also urged the drivers to always use standard equipment and avoid speeding.
The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said the state government’s maize palliative to members of the association made a positive impact on the sector.
Iyiola said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
“We received about 150,000 tons of maize in February from the Lagos State government as palliative to cushion the effect of high feed prices.
“The major benefit of the palliative is that it actually cushioned the cost of production for most poultry farmers in the state.
“The palliative was beneficial as it made the cost of some poultry produce, especially eggs to drop,” Iyiola said.
He noted that prior to the palliative, a crate of egg was sold between N3,500 and N3,700 at the farm gate, but after the palliative, it now sells between N3,200 and N3,400.
According to the PAN chair, retailers and middlemen who sell from N3,800 to N4,200 do that for their personal gain.
“We have urged our members to sell their eggs at reasonable prices following the receipt of the palliative from the government.
“We appreciate the Lagos State government for the palliative but we also urge the federal government to do likewise, to further reduce the cost of production in the sector.
“This will consequently lead to drop in the prices of all poultry produce across board,” he said.
He said the palliative was shared among financial members of the association at no extra cost.
“As an association we shared the grains equally across PAN’s eight zones in the state equally. We also mandated each zone not the sell even a grain of the maize.
“We, however, considered new poultry farmers who wanted to the join the association as beneficiaries of the palliative,” said Iyiola.
He noted that through the palliative, more poultry farmers were recruited into the association.
“The maize was shared only to poultry farmers and not feed millers, it is the major component of poultry feed formulation,” he said.
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