Lagos Tanker Fire Burns 15 To Death

At least 15 people lost their lives in Lagos on Tuesday night when a tanker laden with 33,000 litres of petrol lost control and rammed into vehicles at Kirikiri, Lagos. The tanker spilt all its content, thereby causing the fire that burnt a branch of Sterling Bank at Berger Suya Bus Stop, one Automated Teller Machine, 11 vehicles and 60 shops.

Most of the dead were to be passengers of a commercial bus (danfo) that was behind the tanker when it fell and exploded. An eyewitness claimed that the fire caused by the explosion spread to Suya spots in the area and burnt parked vehicles . He added that the body of the tanker driver was glued to his seat for over 40 minutes before rescue officials removed it. Policemen, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were seen controlling the crowd at the scene while Capital Oil, Julius Berger and Swift Oil deployed water trucks to put out the flames which lasted for about three hours.