Barely a day after a fire outbreak razed a sawmill market at Ipaja Road in Lagos, another fire disaster at the Cement Bus-stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway involving a tanker laden with 33,000 litres of petrol, has left 15 persons death and several others with varying degrees of injuries.
The inferno, which started at about 11p.m on Tuesday, was finally put off at about 1a.m. by a deluge of fire servicemen and rescue operators who thronged the scene of the accident minutes after it happened.
According to an eyewitness report, the tanker had somersaulted while trying to avoid the huge craters on the road and then exploded from the impact of the crash.
All attempts by the combined team of fire fighters from the Federal and State Fire Service, Capital Oil, Julius Berger and Swift Oil, to limit the effect of the inferno proved abortive as it spread rapidly, engulfing over 50 shops including banks, shops and residential buildings.
Asides the buildings that were razed, the fire also burnt over 20 cars as well as goods and properties running into millions of naira.
While attempts were on to put off out the fire, THISDAY gathered that emergency rescue operators also put up a valiant effort to rescue persons who were trapped in the buildings in the path of the fire.
Although they successfully rescued about six persons from the flames, however, no fewer than 15 persons were brought out dead and had since been deposited at the Yaba General Hospital by the police.
