Explosion kills three in Lagos

* 32 vehicles also burnt as fuel truck falls off bridge, catches fire By Evelyn Usman, Olasunkanmi Akoni and Bose Adelaja An explosion triggered by a fuel truck which fell from a bridge before bursting into a ball of fire rocked the Mike Two area of Lagos yesterday. Three persons were confirmed dead while about 32 vehicles of different brands were razed in the incident. The truck fell into a motor park. Eye witnesses gave the time of incident as 1.30 a.m. As victims counted their losses yesterday, residents said the tragedy would have been more had it happened during day time. Lagos State police spokesman, Mr. Joseph Jayeoba, said the driver of the ill-fated truck was not among those killed, saying he was on the run. Eye witnesses said the truck, bearing product suspected to be petrol, fell off the Mile Two bridge as the driver attempted to descend to link to Orile. Motorists plying the route at that time hurriedly made a u-turn. Vehicles burnt include those of transporters plying the eastern and western parts of the country. Sunday Vanguard learnt that those killed were sleeping inside some of the parked vehicles and kiosks in the garage. Reports said the fire would not have spread to the garage where the razed vehicles were parked had the fire service arrived on time. But the officials upon arriving the scene could immediately not

contain the situation following the magnitude of the fire. There were reportedly over fifteen fire service vehicles around the area battling to put out the raging fire. The incident caused heavy traffic as motorists plying the route were trapped as early as 5.30am. But the joint effort of policemen and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) eased the traffic situation. How we escaped death —  victims One of the eye witnesses, a driver who plies Lagos – Benin route and gave his name as Nosa Esemuede, said the ill-fated truck was marked, XB370ATN. He confirmed that three charred bodies were immediately recovered from the buses in the garage, while several other victims sustained varying degrees of injuries. “It was just God that saved my life .My own bus , the bus I drove from Benin City to Lagos yesterday  (Friday) evening, has been burnt to ashes and all those people who lost their lives were those people that slept in their buses. continued