Two Dead, Many Vehicles Burnt As Tanker Explodes On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

– Armed Hoodlums Attack LASEMA Officials

A tanker explosion has occured on Kara Bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the early hours of Saturday

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Our correspondent gathered that the driver of the petrol-laden tanker and his assistant were burnt to death while many vehicles including trucks and vehicles at an auto mart were destroyed by the resultant fire.

An eye witness told our correspondent that the petrol tanker crashed at about 1am and burst into flames while some vehicles also ran into the fire.

The fire was said to have spread to the car mart close to the scene of the accident and destroyed the used cars displayed for sale there.

The the inferno caused gridlock and vehicles going out of Lagos where the accident happened were forced to take the other lane.

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The Lagos State Emergency Agency, tweeted that it’s officials who went on a recovery operation at around 1:05am were attacked by some armed hoodlums.

The agency said the attack fired the team to flee the scene and get police protection. However, the responders and the policemen fled when the hoodluns increased in number and were ready to kill them.

Another eye witness, however told our correspondent later in the morning that the Federal Road Safety Corps have deployed its men there to restore sanity on the road.

The eyewitness, Bolaji Babatunde, who works around the area told our correspondent that the fire destroyed many vehicles.

He said, ” I was going home around 1:30am. The fire was still burning and many vehicles traveling out of Lagos had to use the inward Lagos lane and traffic had started building up .

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” Many vehicles were destroyed and the number of vehicles burnt can be up to 40 or more. I heard that the driver of the petrol tanker that caused the fire and his assistant died in the inferno.”

The LASEMA Director General, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu tweeted, “The agency responded to the incident at 0105hrs this morning according to the State emergency response plan. The joint team was waylaid on arrival by a group of miscreants brandishing weapons and was forced to seek extra police cover from the Isheri Police Station.

“The operation commenced with the police protection until the group of assailants grew larger and caused significant damage to vehicles and threats to lives of our personnel.

“The team was forced to suspend the recovery operation for safety reasons. It is of note that this attack is part of a very worrisome trend of first responders being attacked in the course of their duties. Lagosians are urged to refrain from endangering the lives of emergency responders @OkeOsanyintolu.”

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