By Olawale Abdul-Fatah
No fewer than two persons have been confirmed burnt to death and six others suffered and six others suffering different degrees of burns when a tanker exploded at Bible College Bus-stop end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
Also, razed by the inferno that lasted for several minutes were 17 vehicles which include the tanker, 10 articulated vehicles, three cars, and three commercial buses.
The Guild gathered that the incident happened when the lone tanker experienced a mechanical fault, fell and spilled its inflammable content into the drainage channel which ignited the fire and spread to other vehicles.
At the scene, it was observed that the explosion that rocked the axis early hours of Friday also gutted sizeable meters of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), premises at the Sango Toll Gate.
Confirming the death toll, Assistant Corps Commander, FRSC, Otta, Ganiyu Akeem, disclosed that the tanker was the source of the tragedy that befell the entire community.
Akeem said that after receiving a call from his personnel, he mobilized other formations to the scene to engage in emergency rescue operations.
“Seven fire-fighting trucks were on the ground, three from Ogun and four from Lagos. Thank God, we were able to stop the vehicles coming from Lagos at the Toll-gate on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in a good time.
“We rescued one person and took him to Ota General Hospital. We also evacuated two corpses that were burnt beyond recognition and we took them in our ambulance to Ifo General Mortuary”, he added.
Sango-Ota Area Divisional Commander of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Adekunle Ajibade, hinted that the fuel-laden truck was heading to Lagos from Sango-Ota when it developed a gear fault and overturned in the process.
According to him, the tanker driver was trying to change the gear of the vehicle and lost control. The truck overturns and caught fire immediately.
