Three bodies have been recovered from the scene of Thursday night’s tanker explosion around OPIC plaza on Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos. 13 others were said to have sustained different degrees of burns from the incident.
This was disclosed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Friday.
According to Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Zonal Coordinator, South-West Zonal Office, NEMA, a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker exploded while in motion at about 10:32 p.m on Thursday.
He explained that the resulting fire travelled with the wind to the premises of Ogun State Property Investment Company (OPIC) Plaza beside Sheraton Hotel, which houses different commercial outfits including a Chinese Restaurant.
He said: “We have so far recovered three bodies from the incident. The bodies were recovered from the generator house of OPIC Plaza and the restaurant.
Search and rescue is still ongoing from the collapsed buildings.
The fire was put out at about 12.30 a.m. after concerted efforts of five fire trucks from Lagos State Fire Service and two trucks from Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Response Unit.
The initial search and rescue activities revealed that 13 persons sustained various degrees of burns. Out of this, nine are males while four are females.”
He said the victims were given first aid at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and four of them with severe injuries were later transferred to the Trauma and Burns Centre at Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos.
“Preliminary assessment on vehicles damaged indicated that about 25 were destroyed as at now. Comprehensive post-disaster assessment on the extent of general damages would be done later today,” Farinloye added.
What you should know about the fire incident
Contrary to some reports that the fire touched Sheraton Hotel and led to the evacuation of its guests, a staff of the hotel, who prefers anonymity, told Nairametrics that the fire didn’t get to the facility at all but affected the plaza, which is next door.
She said, “The fire didn’t get to our building at all and we are doing our normal business as we speak. No guest has been evacuated but we found it affected OPIC plaza and we heard several people were injured too.”
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