LAGOS MAY 2ND (URHOBOTODAY)-Many houses have been burnt and many people feared dead as a tanker carrying fuel exploded at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The tanker, fully loaded was said to have fallen down from the Iyana Ipaja bridge and exploded around 1.00am today.
Many houses are still burning, says the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe whose men are still battling to put out the fire.
It is not certain the number of lives lost but it could be more. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is expected to visit the scene of the fire this morning.
The fire burnt a line of shops, covering over 50 metres by the road side.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the incident was reported at about 12:58am.
A spokesman for the NAMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, said: “We received the alert around 12:58am and we swung into action. We were able to contain it… The police got to the scene and were able to also ward-off so many people that had wanted to turn the place to a place for sightseeing”.
Although, no casualties have been reported as at the time of going to press many people were believed to have lost their lives to the inferno caused by the tanker explosion.
Similar incident which occurred two days in Ontisha in Anambra State left 69 persons dead.