The Governor Lagos State,
Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday evening visited the scene of the tanker
explosion which occurred on Otedola Bridge inward Ojodu Berger along the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, describing the incident as sad and unfortunate.
TheNewsGuru reports the
incident, which occurred at about 5pm, was said to have left over 50 vehicles
burnt and nine people dead.
Governor Ambode, who
visited the scene at about 9:30pm where he was briefed by Commissioner for
Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Seye Oladejo, among other
emergency response agencies, particularly commiserated with the families of the
victims and those who lost their properties to the incident.
Addressing journalists at
the scene after assessing the situation, Governor Ambode also directed the
emergency responders and relevant government agencies to ensure the immediate
removal of all the burnt vehicles from the road so as to open it up again for
traffic.
“This is quite
unfortunate; we are actually on the spot to see what is happening here and like
most people must have been aware, this is a tanker that was carrying 33,000
litres of PMS attempting to climb on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway towards the
Kara Bridge and unfortunately maybe lost control and then spilled almost all
the 33,000 litres on the road and there was an explosion which caught up with a
lot of vehicles.
“At the last count, we
have about 50 vehicles burnt and nine bodies also recovered from the scene. In
all of this, I am happy that our response team has been up and running. The
response time to this part particular incident was less than three minutes and
if not for that, a whole lot of things would have really gone wrong.
“I want to praise all our
agencies – the Fire Service, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and also the Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Response Unit. This is what we have
been saying about investing in some of these infrastructure and equipment.
Nobody knows when this kind of incident will happen next but the most important
thing is that our response time should be up and running and be able to save
lives,” the Governor said.
Governor Ambode said
though lives were lost to the unfortunate incident, but that he would take
solace in the fact that more lives were saved, just as he admonished residents
to always give access to emergency responders during such incidents.
“I want to commiserate
with all the families of those that have lost their lives. We never wish for
incidents like this but again we take solace in the fact that we were able to
save more lives. Right now, we would make sure that this traffic is cleared immediately
within 30 minutes to free the major highway because we have to continue to use
it.
“I also want to appeal to
Lagosians that we don’t like to see onlookers; there is a need to always give
way for our first responders and all our agencies to save lives quickly and
that is the whole essence of having the Response Unit,” he said.
While commending the
people for their patience, the Governor assured that the State Government would
continue to put measures in place to mitigate such incidents in future.
“I want to also thank the
people for being patience with us. We will continue to do our best and ensure
that we mitigate things of this nature in future,” Governor Ambode said.
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