At least 10 vehicles were on Tuesday morning burnt after spilled Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) ignited fire along Badagry Expressway, Lagos.
The incident occurred around 5am at Barrack Bus Stop, Ojo.
It was gathered that a tanker which collided with a white van around 10:30pm on Monday got punctured.
The punctured tanker, said to have spilled its content on the road, was recovered by emergency workers the same night.
But hours after the recovery, it was gathered that a fire broke out miles away from the accident point, gutting three buses, a saloon car and six trucks.
Although initial reports alleged that persons were killed in the inferno, a source at the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said there was no casualty.
“No life was lost in the fire. The tanker that spilled its content was not affected. The spillage happened on Monday night. It was stopped and the tanker drove away from the place. Fire service also blanket the affected area.
“Then hours later, fire broke out and affected some vehicles. No one sustained injury and no house was burnt. The fire was ignited by unruly drivers who disobeyed safety instructions and that led to a spark,” said a source.
Confirming the incident, General Manager LASEMA Adesina Tiamiyu said the agency received a distress call concerning a tanker accident around 9:48pm on Monday at Barrack inward Iyana Iba Bus Stop.
“This prompted the immediate activation of the agency’s response team to the scene of the incident. Upon arrival at the scene, it was observed that the tanker with unknown registration number laden 33,000 litres of PMS collided with a white mini truck carrying electrical appliances.
“The tanker’s rear compartment got punctured resulting to spilling of the PMS contents into the environs. Consequently, a combined team of Lasema Response Unit (LRU), Lagos State Fire Service, Police and other responders successfully curtailed and stopped further spillage of the PMS into the environs of the incident scene.
“The articulated tanker and trucks were thereafter recovered from the incident scene. However, during the recovery process, the PMS which hitherto spilled into the distant environment ignited fire and went aflame.
“The fire travelled back to the proximity of the scene resulting to three buses, a car and six trucks getting burnt. The circumstances resulting to this fatal secondary incident could have been attributed to unsafe practices by inhabitants in the distant environs where the PMS spilled into. It is pertinent to note that no person was injured neither was any dead recorded.
“The Lagos State Fire Service, officials of the LASEMA Response Team, 81 Division Nigerian Army Fire Service, Nigeria Police and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were the responders at the scene of incident.
“Motorists are advised to listen to instruction of emergency workers on incident scene to avoid such unfortunate incident in the future,” said Tiamiyu.
Police spokesman Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent (CSP) however said nine vehicles were affected and not 10.
Oti said: “There was a fire incident today, October 2, at about 5am along Lagos-Badagry expressway, inward Iyana-Iba, opposite Ojo Military Barracks.
“When the fire which began just before the break of the dawn was eventually put out by men of the Fire Service, nine vehicles, comprising four articulated vehicles, one truck and four mini buses were razed.
“No life was lost and there was no report that anyone was injured during the incident. It is worthy of note that no fuel tanker was in sight nor burnt as a result.”
Continuing, Oti said Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal had directed the disaster management unit of the command to investigate the cause of the inferno.
