3 die, several vehicles burnt in Tanker explosion on Lagos-Ibadan expressway
No fewer than three persons have been confirmed dead in a tanker explosion that occurred on Kara Bridge, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway at the early hours of Wednesday.
The accident, according to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), occurred as a result of reckless over-speeding by a driver who rammed his fully-loaded 33,000 litres diesel tanker into a truck carrying brewery products (beer) while at top speed. The collision immediately resulted in an explosion and a fire outbreak that burnt three men to death.
A team of officials from Lagos State Fire Service – including RRS, FRSC, Nigerian Police, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps – swiftly responded to the incident around 3a.m and were able to put out the inferno and prevented further casualties.
Burnt carcass of victims are currently being cleared off the road by LASEMA so as to restore normalcy on the expressway and Ikorodu road which have been immediately affected with traffic gridlock following the incident.
An eye-witness who requested anonymity, explained that the failure of the fuel tanker’s brake system caused it to lose control and collided with goods-carrying truck.
Apart from the loss of lives, LASEMA in its report, lists the other casualties of the fire as: two trucks with containers, two trailers, one tanker with with 33,000litres Diesel and a Toyota Corolla car.
One of the officials involved in the evacuation believes that the accident was as a result of indiscipline on the drivers’ parts. “What you have seen is a classical example of indiscipline that has been happening on this road, since the commencement of the rehabilitation of the roads,” he said.
As you can see, there are about four vehicles involved, which means two-lane carriage way had been converted to four-lanes and as a result, they struck themselves and there was a crash and also an explosion of fire.
A victim who lost his saloon car to the accident gave an eye witness account to PUNCH, saying that traffic had eased a bit on his way home from work before a truck coming from the rear brushed his vehicle by the side and rammed into a tanker, leading to the fire.
“That was how other vehicles, including mine caught fire, and till now I still don’t know how I escaped because the fire was unlike no other,” he said.
Mr Adesina Tiamiyu, the General Manager of LASEMA, advised road users especially articulated truck drivers to avoid over-speeding and adhere to safety regulations while plying the road so as to forestall avoidable disaster.
