Four persons were yesterday burnt beyond recognition
when a bus loaded with many 50-litre kegs of petrol
exploded in Isolo, Lagos.
The bus, with registration number, KTU 418 XK, was said
to have rammed into a stationary truck on Musiratu
Lasisi Street, following a brake failure around 4.30am.
Three died on the spot; the fourth, Segun Oluwole, died
at Gbagada General Hospital around 7pm.
According to eyewitnesses, the bus was coming from
Imota in Agbowa-Imota Local Council Development Area
(LCDA) of Lagos State.
Segun, who was a 17-year-old Senior Secondary School
pupil, was placed on oxygen after being rushed to the
hospital.
He was in pains, moaning: “Where are my friends, Where
is Tunde and the landlord?” until he died few hours later.
A motorcyclist, Femi Ajibola, who said he was woken up
from sleep by a loud bang around 5am,said
that only the driver survived.
He said he heard the driver screaming “Alhaja is in the
bus”, and crying for help.
Ajibola said: “I was sleeping at the top of the building
because of heat and suddenly, I heard a loud noise like
bomb. So, I looked down and saw fire. I woke up my
other colleagues and told them that something was
wrong and that there was fire. I went down and removed
my motorcycle and that was when I saw one man sitting
by the pavement of Kembos school. He was screaming
for help but no one could near him because the fire was
much. He came out from the passenger seat and
eventually he died.
“But the driver also came out of the bus from the other
side. He was rescued by the people in the nearby
Celestial Church of Christ and was taken to Isolo General
Hospital. The bus had about 15 kegs of 50 litres and all
of them contained petrol. It looks like they are vandals or
they went to buy vandalised fuel because there were few
seats in the bus.”
Another eyewitness, Deji Ogunleye told The said that
while two bodies were retrieved, the third was completely
dismembered.
He said Red Cross officials who got there before other
agencies could not do much until the arrival of fire
fighters.
“At first, they tried to use fire extinguisher to put out the
fire on the body of one of the victims but they could not
achieve much.”
Two bodies, covered in disposable bags were seen
beside the school gate amid a large crowd.
Isolo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Executive
Secretary Olusegun Jubril, who visited the scene, said no
one knew where the bus came from nor where it was
headed.
He said the calamity would have been worst if the
stationary truck did not stop the bus from ramming into
a bakery.
Jubril said: “I was called this morning that a bus caught
fire; that no one knew where they were coming from and
where they were going; that the bus collided with another
vehicle selling sachet water.
“Only one person survived (later died in hospital). Two
bodies were recovered. I also heard that there was one
Alhaja inside the bus. The only person who survived said
that. The incident happened around 5am and I was
called around 5:30am. I rushed down immediately
because I stay in the neighbourhood. That was how we
started rescue operation.
“Maybe the bus was coming from a far place where they
went to do rubbish. And maybe they were running from
security agents. People must be mindful of their actions
and take precautions. It is pointless engaging in illegal
activities,” he said.
Director, Lagos State Fire Service Mr. Rasak Fadipe
confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the
men were burnt to death after their vehicle carrying
plastic jerry cans of fuel caught fire.
Fadipe said: “It is likely they were involved in petroleum
bunkering in Ikorodu area. The driver lost control and hit
a stationary truck. The driver tried to swerve to the other
side and the vehicle ran into the gutter, spilling the
contents of the jerry cans which resulted to fire. It took
my men about an hour to put out the fire in the gutter
and the vehicle. The driver was one of those roasted to
death in the bus.’’
The late Segun’s mother, Mrs. Roseline Oluwole, said
their landlord whom she identified as Kebe, phoned her
on Monday night that he wanted to see her son.
The 45-year-old mother of five said when her son was
leaving the house, he told her the landlord said there was
a bricklaying job, adding: “We live in Imota and my son
lives with me. Since the landlord (Kebe) doesn’t collect a
kobo from me, I asked my son to go to him. In fact I
borrowed the transport fare I gave him. He left home
around 11am and I pleaded with him not to stay out late
since we had nothing to eat. He was even acting funny
and I told him to stay behind if he didn’t want to go.
When it was around 6pm, I dialled Kebe’s mobile line but
it wasn’t reachable even when I asked my neighbour,
she said it is possible my son was playing with his
children.
Mrs. Oluwole, who trades in fish, said she was shocked
when an unfamiliar number called her around 5am,
saying her son was involved in an accident.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I dialled the
number back and I was told he has been taken to the
hospital. It was the money my daughter made from the
ponmo (hides and skin) she hawked on Monday I used as
transport fare to the hospital. I don’t have a kobo to take
care of him. Since his father and I separated in 2009, my
son has been taking care of the family. He does all kinds
of menial jobs to cater for our needs. We live in an
uncompleted building. We live from hand to mouth. He
was meant to sit for his West African Examination last
year but he was ill. I don’t know what they went to do.
He is a small boy. My children have been forced to stop
school because their father is not forthcoming. I pray my
son survives because he is in pains. It was good
Samaritans that contributed some amount of money
when I couldn’t bring out a kobo. I need help. I can’t
watch my son die,” she said.
The late Segun’s sister, Mayowa, said they had always
been fending for themselves, adding that she hawks
ponmo to survive.
“We have nothing. I was in Junior Secondary School III
when my mother said she could no longer afford the fee.
Even when she took me to my father’s place in Ibadan,
he couldn’t do anything till I resorted to hawking. My
elder sister abandoned her daughter with us. If my
parents are together, all this won’t be happening to us.
We are really in the highest stage of poverty.”
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