15 burnt to death in Lagos tanker fire

LAGOS — No fewer than 15 people were burnt to
death when a tanker laden with petrol fell and went
up in flames Tuesday night. The inferno lasted till
yesterday morning, at the Berger Suya junction,
Apapa, Lagos.

Also, several buildings, eight vehicles and about
200 lock-up shops including a commercial bank in
the area were razed.
There were, however, conflicting accounts of the
number of casualities. While Federal Fire Service
and National Emergency Management Agency,
NEMA, put the figure at 15, the Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and the
State fire service said only five bodies were
recovered.
The fire which started at about 10:35pm on Tuesday
was said to have been caused by a tanker laden
with 33,000 litres of petrol which lost control as it
was negotiating a sharp bend. It exploded close to
suya spots in the area.
*The Tanker that exploded at Berger Suya, Apapa
Expressway, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Kehinde
Gbadamosi.
The driver of the truck, his assistant, several
passengers in two commercial buses, by-standers
and two Hausa suya vendors were burnt beyond
recognition. Rescue workers were seen picking and
collecting bones and burnt human parts into
cellophane bags.
A commercial bank was not spared as a part of the
building which housed the Automated Teller
Machines, ATMs, was badly damaged.
Eyewitnesses said that the bank guard was trapped
and burnt in the inferno.
Fire fighters led by the Director, Lagos State Fire
Service, Fadipe Razaq Idowu, had hectic time
combating the fire which lasted about five hours.
Speaking with Vanguard early yesterday, Idowu
stated that the team which comprises 21 officials
responded promptly with three fire trucks each
containing 10,000 litres of water. According to him,
each of the trucks was replenished three times.
He said: “The State Fire service responded with
three fire trucks, each containing 10,000 litres and
was replenished three times. We also used 600
litres of synthetic chemical foam to stop the raging
fire, if not, the whole building would have been
razed.”
Idowu disclosed that the tanker which was carrying
about 33,000 litres of petrol, went up in flames after
it lost control when trying to negotiate a bend at the
Berger Suya Junction leading to Wilmer.
Reacting to the number of deaths recorded, Idowu
stated that five bodies were evacuated by Lagos
State Environmental Unit at the spot.
The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-
Osanyintolu, said 15 people died in the
conflagration.
But an eyewitness said more than 15 people were
burnt beyond recognition. “It will be more than that
(15 people). They don’t know what they are saying.
Two buses which were at the spot when the
incident happened caught fire and all the occupants
were burnt. The suya sellers including a woman
selling orange at the junction were burnt.
Victim wails
One of the executives of the Berger Suya Traders
Association, Gabriel Ojum, cried that they were like
orphans now having lost everything they had
laboured for. He said he lost more than N5 million
worth of goods to the inferno. He disclosed that
more than 200 shops were affected with goods
burnt. Ojum pointed to another member of the
executive of the union who lost about 30 articulated
vehicle engines, each costing about N850,000.
How it happened
An eyewitness, who resides in the area told
Vanguard that the tanker, which number plate could
not be identified was coming from Kirikiri jetty and
lost control probably as a result of brake failure. He
said the tanker fell as it was trying to negotiate a
bend and caught fire immediately.
“As it lost control, the truck fell close to the suya
spot at the junction with its content spilling across
the road into the immediate environment, from the
suya furnace it wildly spread to the street. The
driver and the conductor were trapped in the truck
which was burnt beyond recognition. Two buses
which were carrying several passengers were also
burnt without a survivor. A woman who sold
oranges at the junction; a guard in the bank was
also burnt to death. Some policemen at the junction
were also not spared. But I don’t know whether
they (the policemen) survived it or not.”
On how it spread to the adjoining street where about
200 shops were affected, another resident, who also
lost goods worth about N5million to the inferno said:
“As the tanker fell, its content (petrol) spilled and
flowed into the gutters and as the fire began, it
spread immediately to the gutters, linking the shops
and vehicles parked along the road. The entire area
was gutted. We immediately reached the fire
service, which responded promptly.”
An eyewitness said the fire was put out at around
3:00 am yesterday with property and goods
estimated at N500million destroyed.
This is a bad New Year
gift —Victims
Edwin Ibe, who had just returned from his village for
the Christmas celebration said he lost more than
N45 million worth of goods. He described the
incident as bad new year gift.
A middle aged father of six who spoke amid tears,
lamented: “As you can see, I lost a lot of money
here. Not only that my engines worth more than N25
million got burnt to ashes, a fairly new trailer that I
recently acquired which is worth over N15m was
also burnt.”
Promise Lezieanya, a trader, absolved the tanker
driver of blame saying “he tried his best to
maneouvre shouting that the truck had lost its
brake as he was approaching the junction.
“A commercial bus by the side which was fully
loaded with passengers to Wilmer got burnt. No one
survived in the bus. I counted more than 28 people,
94 shops, eight motorcycles and eight vehicles that
were burnt that night. I lost 38 pieces of engines to
the fire outbreak each at the rate of N1.1m and a
new truck that I had sold at the rate of N7million but
had not delivered to the owners. All the Okada
riders that used to stay at the junction were all burnt
to ashes,” he narrated.
Fire fighters
No fewer than 21 men from the state fire service
were busy fighting the fire with about 90,000 litres
of water. The State Director, Lagos State fire
service, Fadipe Razaq Idowu stated that apart from
the fact that three trucks were used, they also used
600 litres of synthetic chemical foam to stop the
raging fire.
He, however, acknowledged the support of private
fire units of Julius Berger and the Navy which
complemented the state fire service to combat the
inferno.
Looting spree
Razaq told Vanguard that street urchins had a field
day looting as the fire was raging. He noted, “Many
of them were carrying machete, sledge hammer
and other dangerous weapons trying to loot. They
impeded our work, we would have recorded more
successes if they had stayed out of our way.”
Another eyewitness indicated that looters were
trying to gain access into the ATM compartment of
the affected bank just as others were busy
vandalising property around.
Lagos government reacts
Lagos State Government yesterday described the
Apapa fire incident which killed 15 people as a
shock,saying “in order to avoid this, that was why
the state government embarked on the enforcement
of the 2012 road traffic law.”
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr.
Lateef Ibirogba, while reacting to the inferno said:
“We noted it and have always advised full
compliance with the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012 in
terms of maintenance of vehicle road worthiness,
compliance with speed limits and use of indicator
lights.
“That’s why we also reorganised and strengthened
our Vehicle Inspection Agency. There’s often a
tendency for tanker drivers to resist enforcement,
gang up and threaten to withdraw their service. We
must all resist this and insist on full compliance with
the Law.”
Lagos records 194 fire incidents in 39 days
The inferno was the 194th fire incident that Lagos
would witness in 39 days since December 2013.
As of Tuesday, Mr Rasak Fadipe, told the News
Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that 193 fire outbreaks had
occurred in Lagos within the last one month.
Before the Berger Suya disaster, Fadipe said the
last incident occurred on January 7 at about 3.08
a.m., at Sawmill Market, Ipaja, Lagos.