Three persons lost their lives in an accident involving four vehicles on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The accident occurred about 11p.m. on Tuesday at the Kara Market near the Prayer City Gate. Apart from the three victims, scores of motorists and commuters escaped death by a whisker when a tanker belonging to Total Oil Nigeria Plc hit a stone on the expressway and skidded off its track.
The tanker carrying 33,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol fell across the Lagos-Ibadan side of the expressway and spilt its content on the road. The explosion which followed razed down five vehicles, including the fuel tanker, while many commuters were injured.
Other vehicles are a commercial bus, a space wagon and a car while another tanker with registration number KMC 839XW belonging to Oando Nigeria Plc. parked a few metres away from the accident had its cabin burnt while its tank was intact.
The Assistant Corps Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mowe Unit, Mr. Dare Ogunjobi, said the commission had not been able to ascertain the number of casualty involved in the incident. He said: “After the clearing of the traffic, we are going to visit some of the private hospitals in the neighborhood to ascertain the injured victims and the number of casualties.
But as at now, we have not received any report from the Hausa community about any casualties. As at now, no death has been reported to us officially. “After receiving a distress call about 10:22p.m. immediately our men were mobilised to the scene with the assistance of other sister agencies like Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), policemen and the Nigerian Army to prevent breakdown of law and order.”
The Ogun State treasurer of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Mr. Khalifa Muhammad, said they lost three of their members while seven others were injured in the explosion on Tuesday night. He said: “When we rushed the victims – as Abdullahi Umar (22), Issa Yahaya (24), Sallah Muhammad (23) and Adam– to a private hospital in the community, the doctor was demanding N100,000 for each of the victims before admitting them. We could only pay N130,000 for Adam while the rest were brought back home.
They are now receiving treatment at their various houses.” When our correspondent visited some of the victims who live in shantytown at Kara, Ibafo, they were writhing in pains as they have burns all over their bodies. Muhammad, however, appealed to Borno and Kano state governments to come to the aid of the victims and foot their hospital bills. According to him, one of the passengers identified as Andrew, who jumped through the window of the luxury bus conveying them to Plateau State, died.
He said Andrew’s body was deposited at a private mortuary at Ibafo. It was learnt that some of those selling diesel by the roadside took advantage of the accident to scoop fuel while the motorists also compounded the situation by driving against traffic on both sides of the road. Those trapped near the tanker abandoned their vehicles and took to their heels.
RIP to the deceased and quick recovery for the injured