College Principal, students, others die in Lagos fire

The explosion and fire incident which occurred on Sunday  in Abule Ado area of Lagos State, has claimed lives of at least fifteen persons, which include Principal of  Bethlehem Girls College, a Catholic School close to the scene of the explosion and number of the students, as well as a family of 4 who were heading to church before they were caught in the explosion.

Penpushing reports that, as the fire ravaged many valuables were consumed, while as at 7pm residents were seen still  removing their mattresses, chairs, cookers, refrigerators and other items they could recover with many lying under the rubbles of collapsed buildings.

The Acting coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos territorial office, Ibrahim Farinloye earlier told journalists that the initial explosion destroyed more than 50 buildings, while findings also showed many storey-buildings collapse to ground zero, while others partially collapsed, leaving many properties destroyed.

Penpushing further reports that, the explosion subjected many resident to mental torture as it affected buildings in areas outside Abule Ado, which include: Festac Town, Ijegun among others, just as there were various version to what might be responsible for the outbreak.

The residents  who spoke claimed it could have been caused by a bomb,  but National Emergency Management Agency,( NEMA) and the Lagos Fire Service posited that it was an “implosion” and not an explosion, adding  that, “the implosion is not connected to pipeline but might have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area,”

Penpushing reports that, the Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said the fire incident occurred when a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near an corporation pipeline.

“NNPC pipeline right of way (ROW) encroachment by gas handling vendors and construction of houses enabled the explosion and aggravated the impact. Working with LASG and security agencies to clear the ROW,” he tweeted.

Penpushing further reports that, the organization later released a statement, stating that the incident occurred after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near the corporation’s system 2B Pipeline Right of Way.

The corporation said, as soon as the incident occurred, it quickly halted ongoing pumping operations on the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline which was active at the time, assuring that the actions would not affect fuel supply to any part of Nigeria.

The statement disclosed that more fire firefighting personnel and equipment were mobillised from the NNPC Mosimi Area Office to provide extra fillip to the ongoing operation.

Penpushing reports that, as at the time of filing this report, the corpses of the school principal, the school Engineer and one yet-to-be identified person were deposited at the Nigerian Naval Reference Hospital, and while at the hospitals that received patients from the explosion, not less than seven people were seen at the emergency ward receiving treatment

Penpushing also reports that, a relative of one of the affected persons lamented saying, “he is my in law, his injuries are not too much, that is why I can talk to you. But some dead people were brought here,” and in similar development, hospital attendant said, “they also brought the body of a kid, but we don’t receive children here, others were taken to hospitals in Festac and Satelitte Town,” .