Gabriel Dike
Tragedy was averted yesterday as a tanker conveying 33,000 litres of diesel nearly emptied its contents on Ayobo-Ipaja Road, Lagos State, due to mechanical faults.
Daily Sun gathered that the incident happened at about 10.15am and it threw the area, including Ipaja and Egbeda, into panic when news of the tanker mishap reached residents and passers-by.
Following the incident, police from Mosholasi Police Station, officials of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Response Unit and Lagos State Transport Management Authority diverted traffic to other routes.
An official of LNSC told Daily Sun that the tanker’s chassis fell from the body, forcing the driver to struggle with the vehicle.
The LNSC official said the driver managed to halt the tanker after the front tyres had crossed the road median. The incident forced motorists and passers-by to scamper for safety. As the news of the tanker spread to Ipaja and Egbeda, commotion erupted, forcing residents to avoid the area.
Policemen who arrived the scene first arrested the tanker driver and the motorboy. They also mounted security around the scene of the incident.
A passer-by, Mr. Adekunle Oriola, who witnessed the incident, said that for about 100 metres, the driver struggled to control the tanker until the front tyres climbed the road median, helping it to come to a halt. He said as soon passers-by noticed that the driver was struggling to control the tanker, many took to their heels, and some motorists even abandoned their vehicles and fled.