By Jimmy
Several people were reportedly trapped on a highway after a tanker full of petrol exploded in the Sari Iganmu area of Lagos State.
Ikejabird gathered that the incident happened on Thursday evening. No fewer than 11 vehicles were burnt during the dire incident as emergency responders arrived at the scene to combat the fire.
Officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services were at the scene to combat the fire.
According to emergency authorities, a pile of vehicles including two petrol tankers were found ablaze at the scene.
An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity with The Punch, said, “The container was coming from Apapa. The container climbed the bridge leading to Orile, it could not climb the bridge and fell off at the tail end of the bridge. It then collided with a fuel tanker, which burst into flames.”
The eyewitness added that about 10 vehicles were trapped with their occupants. “Fire service men from Iganmu station came to the scene,” he added.
The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, disclosed that one of the tankers was ascending the bridge when it rolled back and collided with other tankers and vehicles behind him.
He said, “Further investigations revealed that one of the tankers was ascending the bridge when it rolled back onto the other tanker and other vehicles. The collision impact resulted in the fire.”
Oke-Osanyintolu stated that the number of people trapped in the inferno could not be ascertained. However. preliminary assessments revealed that the multiple accidents involved three container-laden trucks, two tankers laden with unknown but highly inflammable contents; one tipper truck laden with gravel; one flatbed truck and three cars.
