One Dead, 49 Makeshift Shops Burnt In Ajegun Tanker Fire Accident

One Dead, 49 Makeshift Shops Burnt In Ajegun Tanker Fire Accident

Contrary to widespread report of early Friday morning fire incident that occurred, at Ajegunle Bus-Stop, Alagbado, on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, in which several people were reportedly killed as a result of crashing of a tanker loaded with petrol, only one teenager was found dead and no fewer than 49 makeshift shops along the expressway were burnt. 

Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, NEMA Coordinator, Lagos Sectorial Office, who disclosed this  at the scene of fire incidence said no house was burnt either because the combined efforts of both Lagos and Ogun State Fire Services who were on ground in no time put off the fire.

It was also reported that the mother of the dead boy, a roadside hawker, who was also at the scene of the fire incident, amidst tears, immediately claimed the body of the boy in the company of sympathizers who tried hard to console her.

Mr Farinloye’s words: “At the end of the fire incident, which was brought under control, a teenager was recovered dead.  He is a 15-year-old boy, named, Oluwatobi Lawal.  We did not know how he got under the truck. He has since been taken to the morgue in the presence of his relation who was also around and claimed the body. 

“There was no injury so far, to the best of our knowledge. The buffer zone we stationed here to fight the fire from spreading to the residential houses prevented what could have led to catastrophic incident, and so there is no single house burnt.  Our early arrival also attributed to this.

“But we can authoritatively report that 49 containers (makeshift shops) along the expressway, were burnt between Lagos and Ogun states. No one knows the cause of the fire”, NEMA official stated.

Speaking in an interview,  Comrade Tunde Mayungbe, NUPENG PRO, Sango Unit said government should be held responsible for their inability to fix roads which is the major cause of frequent falling of tanker trucks.

“The major cause of tanker falling is the inability of the government to fix road properly.  For now, bad road is the major problem.  Look at the front of our office here at Tollgate.  I cannot allow any tanker to ply this road for now.  Even vehicles have stopped passing here for now.  They have to drive against the traffic, facing one way due to these deep gorges on two spots here.

“Government should come down and repair the road.  It is presently not motorable, not even “legegable’, not machineable, you cannot even trek on it.   I have called on labour to come here and do protest.  They are coming now.

“A truck fully loaded from Apapa, swerving here and there on bad roads, entering one pot, coming out of another pot, remember the truck is using balloon which may get weak any anytime as a result of being overworked because of pressure, this may lead to leaking of fuel. The solution is fix the road”, he pleaded.

It was learnt that when the truck fell as it was about maneuvering to deliver fuel at the filling station at Ajegunle bus-stop it crashed into a gorge and fell, spilling fuel down the canal at the Tollgate.

Unconfirmed report said some people tried to scoop the fuel while some street urchins, a.k.a. area boys were busy smoking.  This led to spark of fire which consequently caused the explosion that spread up to back to Ajegunle bus-stop where the fallen tanker was still lying.

TRACE Official And Sympathizers Assisting Mother Of the Killed Teenager