Lagos — An unidentified person was burnt to death, and three others are currently in hospital, following gas explosion, involving three vehicles with Liquified Petroleum Gas, LPG, at GM Julee gas station, Anibaba in Iba New Site, by Iyana School-Isashi Road, Iba, Lagos.
The incident, it was gathered, happened about 10pm Tuesday night.
It was gathered that the fire involved three LPG gas trucks of different storage capacity, and a security post in the plant premises.
It was learned that the fire emanated from one of the trucks, while discharging its contents into the plant surface storage tank before it burst into flames.
According to Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs. Magaret Adeseye, "a male adult suffered severe burns beyond recognition in one of the trucks and was recovered dead.
"While three other male adults were reportedly rescued with varying degrees of burn injuries and taken to nearby hospital on arrival of the state emergency responders."
Other rescue teams include men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Nigeria Police among others.
Meanwhile, evacuation operations have been concluded at press time, while the corpse had been taken to the mortuary for further action.
Lagos cautions residents on handling inflameable materials
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has urged residents to remain cautious following increase in recorded fire incidents in the state.
In January 2024 alone, the service said 251 emergency calls were received, with February showing no sign of abatement as more incidents were being recorded daily.
Adeseye, however, underscored the gravity of the situation, attributing the rise primarily to negligence and delayed reporting.
"The culmination of 2,537 emergencies in 2023 underscores the imperative of addressing this trend promptly," Adeseye stated.
She, therefore, urged residents to prioritise fire safety measures to mitigate the risk of outbreaks, particularly amidst the harsh harmattan weather conditions.
Adeseye stressed that while harmattan intensifies fires, human actions such as improper storage of petroleum products, misuse of electrical appliances, hot works operations and mishandling of gas cylinders are significant contributing factors.
