Two persons have been confirmed dead and over 30 vehicles burnt in the pipeline explosion that rocked the Ijegun community in Lagos state in the early hours of today July 4th.
Confirming the number of casualties, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osanyetolu, said suspected vandals destroyed one of the NNPC pipelines in the surburb and were siphoning Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into a 33,000 litre capacity tanker when they were intercepted by security operatives.
“While trying to escape from the security agencies, some of the siphoned fuel spilled into the drainage and the vandals were alleged to have set the spilled fuel on fire in a bid to deter the security agencies from apprehending them.
The fire then spread back to the pipeline, the point where the vandals had siphoned the fuel and exploded with escalating fire which led to two fatalities and over 30 vehicles burnt. The actual loss will be determined upon conducting post disaster enumeration after the fire has been put out. Responders at the scene include Lagos State Fire Service, Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).” he said
