Petrol Tanker Explosion in Lagos as Nine Die, 54 Vehicles Burnt on Otedola Bridge

Eight years after a massive tanker explosion at Otedola Bridge area of Ojodu-Berger, Lagos State, which claimed 15 lives, a similar explosion at the same area on Thursday killed no fewer than nine persons and burnt 54 vehicles, including a tricycle.

The August 2010 tanker explosion that claimed 15 persons, including an infant, had also inflicted 18 others with varying degree of injuries and 20 cars burnt beyond repairs.

At the scene of on Thursday explosion, pandemonium was the order of the day after the tanker, which was fully laden with petrol, exploded and engulfed virtually all the vehicles around it as well as some of their occupants.

While nine bodies were recovered as at press time, several others with various degrees of injury were also rescued and taken to the Accident and Emergency Centre for treatment.

Some of the injured persons, who experienced third degree burns, were given first aid treatment before they were rushed to the accident centre in the state.

It was further gathered that the casualty figure was high because of the huge vehicular traffic on the bridge before the explosion occured.

According to an eyewitness account, the tanker fell while maneuvering the bridge, thus spilling its content on the road.

Although some motorists who were near the fallen tanker succeeded in fleeing before the explosion occurred, some others were not fortunate.

Samson Ojo told reporters that "I was driving inwards Lagos from Berger and was approaching the Otedola Bridge when the explosion occured.

"My first emotion was sheer panic as the entire area shook as ball of flame erupted into the sky somewhere down the road. Like other motorists, I parked and came out to observed what happened.

"When some of us bravely made our way down, we saw people fleeing from their cars as the fire was escalating. The screams of those in pain is not something I will forget in a hurry.

"We tried to do the little we could do to help put out the flames but nothing worked until the fire service trucks came and started dousing the flames from one vehicle to another."

Another eyewitness, Kehinde Osamor, said the casualty figure was less because people abandoned their vehicles and escaped the inferno.

He said: "We were all trying to navigate the bridge when this same tanker driver tried to climb it. We don't know what happened but he suddenly started rolling back.

"Our immediate thought was to ensure he didn't roll over any of us and surprisingly, the tanker fell sideways and its content started spilling on the road.

"Some of us immediately left our cars and ran. Some people stayed put. The next thing we heard was an explosion and some vehicles caught fire. It was a race of the fittest."

Once the news filtered into town, emergency agencies, including the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA),  Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), Lagos Fire Service, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and other secondary responders immediately arrived at the scene.

While the emergency responders set out to rescue as many as they could, they literally picked up some of the dead bodies of the deceased persons, who had attempted to flee, on the  ground. 

According to the emergency workers, one of the major challenges they had was the issue of crowd control, “as the teeming crowd made rescue work extremely difficult.

“The rescue team had swung into action immediately but the curious crowd surged in too with their cameras, turning into citizen journalists.”

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of the emergency workers said: "So instead of carrying out rescue operations and saving lives, we were forced to try to disperse the crowd first.

"Although some of them genuinely wanted to help, others were more concerned about taking pictures, while there were yet those who came to scavenge among the dead.

"It took the combined effort of the police from the division and the RRS to get a semblance of sanity before we swung into proper rescue work."

Meanwhile, the effect of the accident was not the just the lives lost but the spill over traffic in virtually all parts of the state, especially on roads leading to the bridge. 

Traffic spilt over from the bridge down to the Third Mainland Bridge; Oshodi expressway and even major parts of Ikeja and Airport Road.

When contacted, the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, confirmed the incident, adding that preliminary investigation revealed that the tanker had difficulty in driving up the bridge.

Although he declined to give statistics on the casualty figure, he said several persons were injured and others dead.

Also, the General Manager of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, said the tanker was exiting Lagos when the driver lost control and fell on the bridge.

According to him, "The content spilled and it exploded. All the vehicles behind it caught fire and exacerbated the explosion.

"We got the distress call at our command centre and quickly deployed to the scene. In collaboration with other emergency workers, we succeeded in rescuing four injured persons.

"While two out of the four were critically injured, the other two who were also injured received first aid treatment from LASAMBUS before they were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Centre along that axis to stabilise them."

While the injured were given first aid treatment before they were rushed to the hospital, the bodies of the deceased persons were taken to the morgue.