89 shops, 47 buildings, others destroyed
By Gift Habib
Unconfirmed sources have put the number of lives loss at an early Thursday morning explosion at a gas plant in Baruwa, a densely populated neighbourhood in Alimosho area of Lagos at about one scores .
Also, preliminary reports indicated that 89 shops, 47 buildings including a primary school and church as well as 23 electric poles, two transformers, gas tankers, one tricycle and a motorcycle were ravaged in the explosion which occurred around 5:45am.
The explosion happened at Candos Road, Baruwa Inside when an LPG tanker, which was in the process of discharging at Best Roof Plant, exploded.
Though no official cuase has been given for the explosion, it was however gathered that the inferno may have been triggered by a power generating set which was on while the tanker was emptying its content into the plant’s storage facility.
Confirming the incident, the South-west Zonal Coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye said the destruction was on a large scale because the Best Roof Gas Plant was located in densely populated community.
Also, the Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the agency’s emergency response unit had been deployed in the area, adding that the explosion razed houses, shops and a primary school.
He said, “The explosion occurred and the agency activated a response plan. Initial disaster assessment is as follows: casualties still being assessed but eight fatalities have been identified so far. 25 houses that are mostly bungalows, 16 lock-up shops and one primary school have been affected.
“Fire fighters and rescue workers are operating at the incident scene. The gas emission has been identified and curtailed. Damping down is ongoing.
“Post disaster assessment will be carried out and further update provided.”
