Serious Commotion As Petrol-Laden Tanker Explodes In Ogun Community (Photo)

Scene of the incident

A tanker that was laden with diesel has exploded in Ogun State.

The explosion happened at the boundary between Olambe and Matogun, in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun.

The truck driver was said to be conveying the diesel to a filling station in the area when he lost control of the vehicle due to the bad road.

It was learnt that the truck crashed and the tank fell to the ground, got ruptured and the petrol spilled on the road and into the drainage channel in the area.

Our correspondent gathered that a spark occurred as the petrol was spilling and the fire razed shops and buildings in the area.

An eyewitness, who gave his name only as Oladele, said the fire had caused panic in the community, adding that no fewer than 10 houses had been razed by the fire.

He said, “A lot of people have abandoned their homes; some people are still looking for their children. This is a serious fire and it was caused by a tanker that fell while plying the Olambe to connect Matogun. Shops and about 10 building have been burnt.”

The Lagos Territorial Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.

He stated that no casualty had been recorded, adding that the content of the tank spilled around 7am.

Farinloye said, “A tanker laden with about 45,000 litres of PMS crashed, spilled its content and exploded around 7am at Olambe, Matogun Road, Ifo LGA, Ogun State.

“Though, no live was lost or anyone sustained injury but about 10 buildings were consumed in the incident.

“The situation was mitigated with most of the content spilling into the canal close to the scene, thereby saving the community from serious incident that could have affected people. The fire has been put out.”