No fewer than 15 persons died late Tuesday night when a petrol tanker laden with 33,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly called fuel, fell around the Berger Suya Bus-Stop area of Olodi Apapa in Lagos and burst into flames.
But officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), put the figure of the dead at five, explaining that the remains of the dead were taken to a morgue in Yaba area of Lagos.
Also Daily Sun gathered that scores of persons were wounded and taken to the Gbagada General Hospital and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
The Director of Lagos State Fire Services, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, told Daily Sun that they were called to the scene at about 10.47pm and that their response was swift, as his men were quickly deployed to the scene to battle the fire.
Mr. Fadipe also said three commuter buses loaded with passengers were burnt, while 28 spareparts shops and goods were destroyed. Independent investigation showed that over 50 shops were burnt.
He said the driver of the tanker from where the fire started and his conductor as well as some passengers of the three commercial buses that were at the bus-stop at the time of the fire were killed by the raging inferno.
A rescue official at the site, who craved anonymity, said 10 vehicles, including five trucks, four buses, one car and two bikes were lost to the fire, adding that the tanker was burnt beyond repairs.
Officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, LASEMA, Nigeria Police, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were at the scene of the incident trying to maintain law and order.
Witnesses also told Daily Sun that the tanker which was loaded at the tanker farm in Kirikiri area of Lagos, was descending the Berger Bridge to make a U-turn at the Berger Suya Bus Stop, but as it was descending, it suffered brake failure and in an attempt by the driver to salvage the situation, the tanker fell and the fuel spilled.
A witness, who identified himself as Adamu, said the Suya sellers were busy with their trade when the incident occurred, adding that it was the fire from the locally made Suya grill that engulfed the tanker whose content spilled on the road.
Adamu, who said he lost his fully stocked shop to the fire, stated that many persons may have died in the incident, explaining that there were three commercial buses almost fully loaded with passengers at the bus-stop when the incident happened.
He told Daily Sun that the burnt commercial buses which were seen at the scene could not escape the inferno with their passengers, noting that some passengers, however, were able to escape with minor burns.
Another witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Daily Sun that as the fuel from the fallen tanker flowed to the drainage system, the fire later engulfed the Sterling Bank located near the bus-stop.
It was gathered that hoodlums at the scene of the incident embarked on a looting spree. They allegedly raided the bank and demanded the key to the ATM from the security operatives attached to the bank.
The witness said when the security operatives refused to release the keys to the ATM to them, the hoodlums beat them to pulp, but one of the security operatives managed to escape.
Unable to find the key, it was gathered that the hoodlums swooped on the banking hall, and ransacked it, carting away computers and air conditioning systems from the bank.
Daily Sun learnt that the hoodlums were unable to loot the ATM due to the security built around it, but also ransacked the manager’s office which was located on the first floor of the one-storey building.
Meanwhile, the fire continued and burnt most of the shops attached to the building behind the bank and other buildings around it.
At the end of the incident, the traders, mostly spare parts dealers in the area, were counting their losses, as truck engines worth millions of naira were burnt beyond redemption.
Some of the traders were seen at the scene discussing the incident, while others who were lucky and had their wares intact, were also evacuating the goods from the scene of the incident.
The President of the market association who was identified as Mr. Okey Udeagbala described the incident as unfortunate, calling on the government to come to their aid to be able to recover from the loss.
mickeynote's Blog 