Update: 3 burnt to death in Lagos-Ibadan expressway accident

One of the dead victims being evacuated by rescue officials

Three people have been burnt to death in the multiple accident involving six vehicles on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday.

General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Mr Adesina Tiamiyu said the agency received a distress call at about 3.08am concerning a tanker fire accident resulting to multiple accident with fatalities.

“Investigation carried out at the scene of incident revealed that the tanker fully laden with AGO (diesel) 33,000 litres caught fire and ran into a truck carrying brewery products (beer) while on high speed.

“The driver was said to have abruptly applied brake at the Kara Bridge outward Lagos resulting in multiple accident and fire outbreak with colossal loss,” he explained.

He said the agency’s Emergency Rescue Team, ERT alongside the Lagos State Fire Service, Rapid Response Squad, RRS, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Nigerian Police, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps were responders at the scene of the incident.

He said the combined team combated the inferno and successfully put it out as well as condoned off the road in order to prevent further loss and casualties/fatalities.

“Consequent upon the disaster loss assessment conducted at the incident scene the following loss were recorded: two containerised trucks were burnt, two trailers were burnt, on tanker with 33,000 litres Diesel which caused the accident was burnt, one car (Toyota Corolla) was burnt and three death were recorded, all adult male,” he disclosed.
He said the recovery operations of the burnt truck with the aid of LASEMA heavy duty equipment was ongoing so as to abate traffic gridlock which had built up on the Lagos Ibadan Express way.

“Also, burnt carcasses are also being cleared off the road so as to restore normalcy. Traffic has affected almost every part of the expressway and Ikorodu road on to Alapere and Ogudu,” he said.

Tiamiyu advised road users, especially articulated truck drivers to avoid over-speeding and adhere to safety regulations while plying the road so as to forestall avoidable disasters, adding that full scale investigation on the incident would be carried out by appropriate authorities.

Also, Southwest Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu called on outbound motorists on the expressway to exercise extreme patient.

He charged them to take alternative route, such as Ikorodu route to avoid gridlock at Kara bridge as a result of multiple accident involving six vehicles that started around 3.08am.

Yakubu also said motorists going to Alausa Secretariat should seek alternative routes as a trailer crashed and spilled its PMS content, saying that emergency responders were working to prevent fire outbreak.

-Kazeem Ugbodaga