Yemisi Izuora
An oil tanker truck caught fire in Lagos on Thursday, killing nine people and burning out 53 other vehicles.
The accident happened on a motorway that connects Lagos and the city of Ibadan, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) spokesman Adeshina Tiamiyu said. He said a distress call was received at around 05:33 p.m.
Nine people are dead and four injured are in hospital”, said Tiamiyu.
Also, spokesman for the Federal Road Safety Commission, Bisi Kazeem, said the crash happened around Otedola bridge on the section of the road heading out of Lagos, as he blamed the accident to a brake failure.
Kazeem,said, the tanker, five buses, two trucks, a tricycle and 45 cars were burnt out.
“As a government, we would not relent in putting measures in place to ensure safety of lives and property of all residents,” said Lagos state government spokesman Kehinde Bamigbetan in an emailed statement. We extend our deepest commiseration to the families of persons who lost their lives as well as properties to the incident.” The statement added that the state government was clearing damaged vehicles from the road.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, late Thursday, June 28, reacted to the tanker fire accident that happened in Lagos earlier in the day resulting the death of at least nine people and the destruction of over 54 vehicles.
According to Buhari, the incident which resulted in many sustaining injury, is one of the greatest tragedies experienced in Nigeria in recent times. Buhari’s reaction was contained in a statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu.
The statement quoted the president as expressing shock and sorrow over the incident while condoling with the government and people of Lagos state over the development. “Sadly, this seems to be one of the greatest tragedies we have seen in recent times,” Buhari said as he urged the emergency services and law enforcement officials to do their best to reduce the damage from the incident. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and Lagos Fire Service were said to have been mobilised to the scene. The reports was made known by the rapid Response Squad via its Twitter handle, @rrslagos767.
The spokesman, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Mr Kehinde Adebayo, said that four persons sustained various degrees of injury.
Adebayo said the accident was caused by a fuel tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of petrol heading towards Berger along Lagos/Ibadan Express.
“On getting to the scene of the incident, it was discovered that a Mack tanker truck loaded with 33,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) moving inward Berger at about 5:23pm, fell and spilled its content on the road.
“The contents ignited fire and resulted into fire outbreak. Unfortunately, nine bodies were confirmed dead and recovered from the scene (eight adults and one minor) and four persons sustained various degrees of injury.
“All the victims have been taken to the hospital. A total number of 54 vehicles were completely burnt as a result of the inferno,” Adebayo said.
He said the LASEMA, Road Safety Corps, NSCDC, Fire Service from state and federal, LASAMBUS, LASTMA officials and Nigeria Police personnel were amongst the rescue teams at the scene.
Adebayo said all efforts would be put in place to remove all the burnt vehicles from the road as at the time if filing this report.
The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, described the accident as a sad development, saying that it was most unfortunate and regrettable.
“On behalf of the Lagos State Government, we extend our deepest commiseration to the families of persons who lost their lives as well as property to the incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of pain and grief.
“As a government, we would not relent in putting measures in place to ensure safety of lives and property of all residents,” Bamigbetan said.
The Commissioner said Gov.Akinwunmi Ambode had directed all relevant agencies to move into the area to normalise the apprehension that had taken over the area and to also ensure that those in need were adequately taken care of.
According to Bamigbetan, the governor assured that clearing of the highway of damaged vehicles to establish normal traffic flow would continue throughout the night until the objective is achieved.
Bamigbetan, however, called for the co-operation of all citizens with the officials of the agencies to restore the situation to normalcy.
He also urged motorists to continue to adhere to the safety standard and the state traffic Laws so as to prevent a reoccurrence of such incidents.