Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, Agha Ibiam, Eugene Agha And Yemi Akinsuyi
16 May 2008
Lagos — It has happened again. Another tragedy struck yesterday at Ijegun area of Lagos State when a fuel pipe belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora-tion (NNPC) went up in flames, killing no fewer than 14 people.
More than 11 houses were also razed.
Among the dead were school children and a two-year-old.
A middle-aged woman who was sobbing profusely said her three children, Osahon, 18, Osamede, 15, and Idemudien 13, were burnt to death in the fire.
There are, however, conflicting figures on the actual number of casualties.
While officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which rushed to the scene, put the death toll at 10, those of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said 14 people died.
Some officials of the Nigerian Red Cross Society put the casualty figure at 39.
THISDAY confirmed at the Adeoluwa clinic, Ijegun, where most of the injured children were initially taken that out of the eight children brought there for medication, six were still in a state of coma while two others died shortly after they were hospitalised.
The Medical Director of the hospital Dr. Silifat Alao, who said parents and relatives of the six children had moved them out of the hospital, did not however rule out the possibility that the number of causalities might be higher.
But the Chairman of the Red Cross Society (RCS), Lagos State Branch, Deacon Timothy Oladele, said as at 6 pm yesterday, over 50 corpses had been recovered and taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LAS-UTH).
He said over a hundred people that received first degree burns were also taken to the hospital and other clinics in the state.
Oladele said: "I cannot say categorically the cause of the fire but I was told by some of the people here that Lagos State Government is carrying on the dredging of the area and that one of the tractors being used mistakenly hit the pipeline, which resulted in the inferno.
"We in the Red Cross Society had put up a mini clinic here to treat fresh cases, but many people, more than a hundred with first degree burns have been taken to LASUTH and other hospitals around for treatment.
"As I am talking to you right now, an ambulance has just taken corpses to mortuary. I'm sure by now most of the morgues in the state would be full. Fire fighters are here but the water in their tanks has been exhausted. That is why we are calling on NNPC to come to our aid by providing water for us.
"The fire is gradually spreading towards that AP filling station and if that should happen, it would be disastrous to us all. Initially we counted 11 houses burnt in the inferno but right now, we have lost count of the houses as the fire is still burning. It's a pathetic situation, I must say."
Also speaking on the fire, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Operations, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, who visited the scene promised police readiness in investigating the cause of the incident.
Akpoyibo said as part of ensuring tight security around the site of the incident, the Lagos State Police Command had drafted Rapid Respond Squad policemen and officers to the place.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Area G, Mr. Mobolaji Adesanya, also said the place was still in a rowdy situation for anybody to categorically ascertain the actual death toll.
THISDAY learnt from some witnesses that a good number of those who died in the fire were students of Ijegun Community High School, Baptist Model High School and Ijegun Community Primary School as well as some residents and artisans who were said to be all within few metres of the scene of the incident.
Some of the victims were allegedly trapped under a section of the fence belonging to one of the schools, which collapsed during the stampede that followed the explosion.
Witnesses said the bodies of some of the dead students and other victims were immediately rushed into a waiting ambulance belonging to the Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASEMBUS).
Some of them were first taken to Ijegun General Health Centre and later LASUTH.
According to some eye-witnesses, the fire started when an NNPC tractor working on the Isolo, Ijegun road project unknowingly ruptured an NNPC pipeline, which passed through the area to Mosimi depot in Ogun State.
One eye-witness said: "What we saw next was a huge explosion, a thick cloud of smoke and a huge ball of fire which engulfed the entire area. Some of the students from nearby schools were trapped in the stampede that followed.
"The first victims that were brought out of the fire were the bodies of three men, two women, and a two-year-old baby who were burnt beyond recognition."
An official of NEMA who identified himself as an Assistant Zonal Coordinator, South-west Zone, Alhaji Abdulsalam Mohammed, however, told THISDAY that about 10 persons were officially reported dead while 36 others including mothers and their children also sustained various degrees of fire burns.
He said both the dead and injured were taken to LASUTH where most of the injured are being treated.
He said the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue.
Mohammed said he got a report of the incident around noon, disclosing that the fire might have started at about 11am from a ruptured NNPC pipeline.
He claimed that the entire place was in a confused state when he arrived the scene.
The NEMA official said he quickly organised an on-the-spot meeting with other stakeholders on how best to evacuate the affected persons.
"The fire was reduced to a manageable level by the activities of staff of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and NNPC who arrived the place with Foam Tender. This is an equipment specially designed for containment of petroleum fire outbreak. It is likely that the fire will be put out before the end of the day," he said.
"Also, a good Samaritan who came to their rescue was caught up in the fire, while school children ran helter-skelter for safety. Some were injured as they were trampled on in the ensuing stampede," the eye witness said.
THISDAY learnt that the PPMC, upon receipt of the report, shut the flow of product on the line to enable the firemen put out the fire.
Although efforts to reach the NNPC spokesman, Dr. Livi Ajuonuma, for official comments proved abortive, THISDAY learnt that the incident could result in fuel scarcity, as products supply through the damaged pipeline has to remain shut until it is fixed.
Late last year, the Deputy Area Manager, Maintenance at the Mosimi Depot, was killed when fire erupted from a vandalised portion of NNPC pipeline in Arepo, Ogun State.
Three other senior members of staff of the corporation sustained various degrees of burns. The officials had gone to inspect the vandalized pipeline when tragedy occurred.
The Lagos State Government sympathised with victims of the fire incident.
Addressing newsmen on the incident at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr. Tunde Balogun, who spoke alongside the Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Segun Ayobolu, said the entire state government emergency agencies were deployed in the scene immediately the incident was reported.
Balogun pointed out that the incident started from an oil pipeline that was damaged due to construction activities on the Isolo- Ijegun road and that fire trucks from the Isolo fire station and some from Alausa immediately responded to the fire which is petrochemical in nature.
Meanwhile, residents of both Ayinde Street and Isolo road are now temporarily displaced as most of them have fled their homes for safety and fear of being caught up in the fire that continued till 4.30 pm yesterday.
Some of the victims are at present counting their losses.
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