The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service on Friday said that no casualty was recorded in the tanker explosion in Ijora area of Lagos State.
It was another disaster in Lagos last night as unspecified number of fuel tankers and vehicles were engulfed in fire at Ijora-Apapa area of the state. The number of causalities could also not be ascertained as at press time.
According to an eyewitness, the incident happened at 7:30p.m. and at the time of the report, men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and other emergency responders were yet to get to the scene of the raging inferno.
Videos circulating on social media showed people screaming and trying to curtail the fire from spreading in the vastly populated area.
In a later post the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the incident, stating that it was “currently engaging in firefighting operations at Costain, towards Ijora 7-Up, where a tanker fire is being combated at the Lagos Quadrapont Bridge by the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu. The Sari Iganmu and Ilupeju fire crews are combining efforts to tame the raging fire. An update will follow.”
Mrs Margaret Adeseye , the General Manager of the service who confirmed this in a statement in Lagos, said the fire had been controlled.
BRANDPOWER reports that the tanker explosion happened on the bridge connecting to Ijora, Orile and Costain area of Lagos on Thursday night.
“The raging fire has been curtailed as the dampening of pockets of fire continues to allow for investigation to reveal the cause and the evacuation of the carcass to bring about normalcy.
“The incident affected 11 vehicles comprising of two tankers, one tipper truck, three trailers, three cars and two micro-mini busses,” she said.
BRANDPOWER reports that the Southwest Coordinator National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Mr Ibrahim Falinloye said, the fire from the tanker burnt 13 vehicles which include two buses, two cars, a trailer loaded with Sardines and detergents, one Sport utility vehicle (SUV), three flat body trailers, two 20 feet containers, and two PMS tankers. [10/13, 06:45] Ibrahim Farinloye: 12 high tension electric poles were destroyed in the incident.
The carcases of the burnt vehicle are being evacuated by LASEMA.