10th April, 2014
A pregnant woman and four others were electrocuted today as they fled from a petrol fire in a densely-populated part of Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, an emergency official said.
Ibrahim Farinloye, of the National Emergency Management Agency, said the victims were killed as they fled an explosion, caused when a live wire fell on a car loaded with tanks of petrol.
They were electrocuted when they ran into the power cable as they tried to escape the inferno, he added.
The stampede caused by the blast in the suburb of Oworonshoki also left a number of other people injured.
“Five people, including a pregnant woman, lost their lives when they ran into a live wire that fell on a car that exploded and caught fire,” Farinloye said.
Rescuers were able to put out the fire before it could spread to nearby buildings.