By Energy Worth Online
Two people were severely injured after a diesel tanker plunged off the Otedola Bridge — along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Lagos — and erupted into a “ferocious inferno beneath the bridge”.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said the “terrifying conflagration left two victims with extensive and severe burn injuries, necessitating their immediate extrication from the danger zone and urgent medical intervention”.
LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, however, said the agency’s emergency response team, in concert with other relevant emergency management agencies, “swiftly mobilised to the scene and successfully rescued the two severely burnt victims from the perilous situation.”
“The injured victims were subsequently evacuated by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency’s Rescue Unit (LRU) to the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre, Toll Gate, where they were admitted for immediate medical attention,” Taofiq said in a statement on Monday evening.
A diesel-loaded tanker reportedly fell from Otedola Bridge, caught fire, and was engulfed in flames underneath the bridge inward Berger. Two casualties were recorded, while the incident has resulted in traffic congestion around the affected location.
Firefighters are on the scene battling the inferno, while emergency responders are attending to the situation and making arrangements to convey the victims to the hospital. Meanwhile, our personnel are managing traffic around the affected corridor to ensure the safety of road users and minimise traffic disruption.
Motorists are advised to exercise extreme caution when approaching the area and comply with the directives as emergency response operations continue.
Otedola Bridge. Photo: LASTMA (@followlastma)
He said operatives of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service were engaged in “concerted firefighting operations to contain and extinguish the raging inferno, prevent its further escalation and avert additional casualties, as well as potential damage to surrounding infrastructure”.
Other emergency and security agencies that participated in the coordinated rescue and containment operations included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency’s Rescue Unit (LRU), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (Neighbourhood Watch) and Police personnel from the Alausa Police Division, the agency said.
The fire led motorists to reroute to avoid the affected section of the expressway. The development resulted in traffic gridlock on the bridge.
Monday’s fire incident is the latest in the long list of accidents in that stretch of the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which connects Lagos to other states, including those in the South-West, South-East and South-South regions of the country. The stretch has recorded several vehicle crashes, roll-overs and tanker explosions.
The tanker fire came after a 33,000-litre tanker overturned at Ojota Bridge, Lagos, spilling its groundnut oil content on the road. Authorities said the accident was due to a suspected brake failure.
