Fuel truck blast kills five in Lagos

A gas-laden truck exploded and caught fire early Thursday in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, leaving five dead and three others seriously injured and destroying dozens of homes and shops, the emergency services said.  The incident — the latest in a string of fuel accidents in Nigeria — occurred at around 6am as the truck was offloading gas at a depot in the district of Baruwa-Ipaja, Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) told AFP.   He said rescue workers promptly deployed to the scene. “We have recovered five charred bodies and rescued three others — a woman and her children — from the scene,” he said.

Farinloye said those injured were receiving treatment “for severe burns” at a nearby hospital, while efforts were being stepped up to put out the flames.    He said over 40 houses, 89 shops and many vehicles were burnt in the inferno.  He said a running generator inside the gas depot was suspected of causing a spark that triggered the blast.

Fuel accidents are common in Nigeria, often entailing pipelines or trucks transporting oil or petrol (gasoline), rather than gas. Most people live in poverty even though the country is the biggest oil producer on the continent, with around two million barrels per day.  Some incidents happen when residents try to siphon off oil or petrol from pipelines or when tanker drivers crash on ill-maintained roads.  Last month, a petrol-carrying truck overturned on a road in lokoja, the capital of central Kogi state, killing 23, including students and burning several buildings and vehicles.  Also in the same month, a gas exploded inside a plant at Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos, leaving dozens critically injured and buildings and vehicles burnt.  In March, a gas explosion in the city killed at least 20 people, injured many more and destroyed around 50 buildings.