FALLEN FUEL TANKER: LASEMA, TRACE, others avert disaster

A major disaster was averted yesterday, when security agents and emergency workers battled to keep fuel scoopers away from a 50,000-litre petrol-laden tanker that fell at Magboro on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State.
A driver caught in the resultant traffic gridlock said the tanker, with the registration number, MKA 88 YS, belonging to MRS Petroleum, fell at 8a.m., just before the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries bridge causing panic among residents of the area and road users.

He added that the content of the tanker spilled on the road, with food sellers hurriedly evacuating their wares around the area.
He said: “To my amazement, hundreds of residents were scooping fuel rushing out of the tanker into buckets and jerry cans.
“What could have been a human disaster was averted by the joint operation of Lagos State agencies led by Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Rapid Response Squad, Lagos State Fire Service, its Ogun State counterpart as well as TRACE officials.
“It took the intervention of police and road safety officials to disperse those who had gathered round the fallen tankers with all sorts of containers.”
At press time, when more agencies were mobilised to the scene, some of the residents were seen fighting among themselves and carrying jerry cans of scooped fuel.
Mr. Sylvia Okereke, who spent close to six hours in the traffic, told Vanguard he left his house at Arepo at 8a.m. for Mowe, but did not get there till about 2p.m., saying “apart from the tanker that fell, I believe the road construction on that axis was a contributing factor.”
The evacuation exercise was carried out with the direct supervision of the General Manager, LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu.