Two fuel tankers exploded yesterday at the Waterworks road off Liverpool Apapa. The two tankers which exploded belong to Petrol – Cargo Limited. The members  of the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), the state Fire Service, the Merchant Navy and the Nigeria Police tried to put out the fire but were unsuccessful to tame the raging beast. According to Mr. Emmanuel  Eze who is the owner of the loading bay, they had adhered strictly to all safety rules. He re-enacted the series of events that led to fire.

“We have fleets of trucks in the bay and when we load products at the tank farm, the tankers park at the bay pending when they will go to distribute the product.

“What happened was that one of the tanker drivers was supposed to go and distribute the product but unfortunately his truck refused to start and instead of calling an auto-rewire, he decided to do it himself. He tried to start the truck manually but he did not know that the fuel pump was leaking. So when he started it, it caught fire and entered the fuel pump and then into the vehicle tank resulting in an outburst of fire. The main thing started when the fire entered the product tank but we tried everything possible to contain and restrict it to the compound, an effort that proved successful.”

It would seem that the state has bee ravaged by fire outbreaks from the MRS fire outbreak at Apapa to the fire at Ikeja Shoppig Mall Alausa which took place a few days ago.