34 houses, 70 shops razed as another tanker explodes in Lagos

Kazeem Ugbodaga

At least 34 houses and 70 shops have been razed in Lagos as another fuel tanker fell and exploded at Idimu area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

The tragedy occurred around 12:08am on Saturday as two oil tankers were said to be competing at a bend on Idimu-Ikotun Road. One of them fell in the process, spilling its content on the road and exploded few minutes later while the other tanker escaped the danger.

As balls of fire envelop the atmosphere, residents took to their heels with some scaling the fences of their houses to flee with their children.

An eye witness, Wakilu Hamzat, told PM News that he was not sleeping when the tragedy occurred, saying the the moment he saw that the tanker had fallen, he quickly told his family to flee because fire could occur at anytime.

Hamzat said he had to raise the alarm in the community which woke up many who were sleeping as they hurriedly vacated their houses, adding that, few minutes later the tanker exploded.

The fire spread quickly and in the process, 34 houses, 70 shops and one tricycle were burnt.

Director, Lagos Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe said the fire service received the distress call by 12:08am and responded promptly.

“The effort we put in it has saved the MRS fuel station from being engulfed by fire and we have as well saved several buildings here‎. I want to thank the communities that supported us and other emergency responders.

“But this fire has consumed a lot of fire fighting materials that could have been used to put out about 15 to 20 fire outbreak‎s. Something has to be done to this type of incidents,” he said, adding that 34 houses, 70 shops and one tricycle were burnt.

Nekon Olorode, Senior Traffic Officer, Rescue Operations said “When we received the ‎distress call, we came here at about 1.00am to access the situation. We have been here since then.

“we will soon take the tanker out of the road. The meeting with the tanker drivers will soon be held and their menace will be curtailed,” he said.

Kunle Sanyaolu Olowopeejo, Executive Secretary, Egbe-Idimu LCDA said thew council would soon collate data of everyone affected and would forward the list to the state government.