Victims of Iju, Lagos, have been counting their losses after the gas fire incident that wreak havoc in the area.
Three people died during the inferno, several people injured while property worth millions of money were destroyed.
As of Friday afternoon, mixed reactions continued to trail the accident. While some people were thanking God for sparing their lives others were lamenting over who they lost.
A victim, Oseni Suleiman, who suffered severe fire burns, said he has no reason not to thank God for saving him from instant death:” I thought my own was over.
I saw death, I did not know that I would survive the fire incident. I was in my shop where I sell electrical parts when I heard a bang like a cannon gun. When I looked outside, I saw people running and shouting that a nearby gas plant was burning. Everybody was running as if it was war. I took to my heels and as I was running, I remembered that my neighbour left his two kids under my care. I had to run back to the shop to rescue the kids. It was in the process of rescuing the kids that I was caught in the web of the fire. There was smoke everywhere and stamped.
” I am grateful to God that the fire did not touch the kids; they were not touched by the fire which I see as a great work of God. I am grateful to God because I am alive to tell the story. I have been treating myself, but some officials of Ifako General Hospital came today saying that they came to treat us, but ended up recommending some drugs for us. I am treating myself “.
For Jide Olanipekun, a Choir Master with a damaged Church, Gospel Progress Assembly, “the church is grateful to God because no life was lost, two of our members were praying in the church when the fire incident occurred. The two persons took to their heels. We had no church programme and I thank God that a primary school that is close to us has not to resume classes, there would have been serious casualties. It was like Armageddon, because I saw something like an aircraft flying with fire in the air, so everybody was running for safety. It was later that we knew that it was half of the tanker that was flying in the air like an aircraft. It eventually landed in a compound. Even though we were too far from the scene but there was serious heat all over the area. I saw many people being taken away by emergency workers, but I can’t say if anyone died, but they were in critical condition”.
A shop owner at Kayode street, Mary ,said :
” I was in my shed when I started hearing some noise like rainfall, but when I looked outside, there was no sign of rainfall. I went back to the shop, but immediately I stepped inside, I started hearing a loud bang. The bang was too much. I was hearing bangs but when I heard the loudest bang and saw something like a chopper flying with the flame of fire, I thought that it was war. I quickly ordered my children to start running to the Ishaga area. I told them to run as far as fast as possible. As we were running, a man in my front was severely burnt. I fell down, but I stood up immediately and continued to run until I stop feeling the heat. The heat in the area was like hell fire. Well , even though I was injured, I thank God that I am alive. I thought that terrorists had entered our community”
A Politician , Mr Saheeb Ayomide, blamed the fire incident on the owner of the gas plant and those who sold the land to him:” Let’s be frank , how could a reasonable person sell land to an operator of gas plant in a residential area with narrow road and how could a responsible businessman who knows the danger of gas, site a gas plant in such an area. When the land was about to be sold to the man, we opposed to the idea of siting a gas plant there, because of money, the people did not listen to us.
Each time a tanker come to deliver gas to the plant, there is always traffic because it is always difficult for drivers to navigate the road. The road is too narrow and bad.
” This tragedy would have been averted if not because of the greedy nature of the plant owner. The truck arrived on Wednesday, and wanted to offload, but the plant manager complained that the there was 200 keg shortage of gas and refused to accept the consignment. He asked the driver to take the gas back. The driver refused and vowed not to drive the vehicle. I don’t know how another driver who I am suspecting may not be perfect in driving . The driver took the vehicle, as he was navigating to come out of the narrow road, he hit an electric pole which fell on the tanker, as he was trying to come out of the danger, one of the truck tyres hooked in the pavement on the road, as he was forcing the vehicle to come out of the pavement, the tyre burst and the tanker exploded. The truck divided into two and half of it flew up in a manumental fire.
It was flying like an aircraft. It later landed about ten poles away from the scene. It landed in a compound but we thank God that nobody was in the compound as the residents had all fled the house. The fire was too much. That is why I am surprised that I am seeing reports that nobody died. Many people died. The driver of the tanker and the conductor died on the spot. We later came back to the scene where we used wood to take injured people to the vehicles that were conveying them to the hospitals.Some where rushed to a catholic hospital, some to General Hospital while some of them who were able to run to medical homes did on their own. Many people were burnt. My brother, so many of them were already looking like white people due to the fire burns .
” We want the government to wade in because about 200 people have suffered one casualty or the other.Some have no home ,some have no shops while others lost their cars. The market was completely razed . The government should also prevail on Electricity management company to expedite action in repairing the electricity that has been destroyed by the fire. Moreso, the government should relocate gas plants from residential homes”.
However, Chairman Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers, Mr. Ogundare Adebayo, said the plant owner has no blame:” There is nothing wrong with having gas plants in a residential area. The only thing that is necessary is safety measures. The gas plant owner had put in place all safety measures. What we frown at is when people are operating gas plants and filling stations together. It is dangerous to have the two highly inflammable together. We blame the bad road as the cause of the tragedy. The government should do something about the road. The plant owner brought development to the area and should be commended. The accident did not happen in the premises. It happened outside the site. The owner serious money expanding and maintaining the road. Let the state and local governments live up to expectations and do the needful by taking care of the roads”.
Giving an update on the fire accident, director-general/CEO of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said:
“The inferno has been put out completely. The total number of casualties is 30, consisting of 20 adult males and 10 adult females. Post-disaster assessment is as follows, two residential buildings, one church, one event centre, four commercial buildings, a market consisting of 15 shanty shops, 11 cars, two mini trucks, one bus, and one heavy-duty truck were destroyed, bringing the total damage to 23 buildings and 15 vehicles.”
