The explosion in Makhachkala occured at a fuel station after a fire broke out
AFP

A tanker loaded with 33,000 liters of diesel crashed in the Sari Iganmu area on Thursday night, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said. The accident caused a large fuel spill on the road, completely stalling traffic in the area.

Adebayo Taofiq, the director of public affairs and enlightenment at LASTMA, said the fully loaded tanker lost control and trapped a Hyundai bus. The driver of the bus that was coming in another direction escaped with minor injuries. There are no other injuries.

The tanker driver fled the area after the crash.

Several videos surfaced on social media after the tanker overturned Thursday night.

"Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) with other emergency responders today salvaged what could have been another major disaster during an accident that happened immediately after Otedola bridge inwards Berger near Capital Oil, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos," the traffic agency said in a news release.

The tanker, which was traveling from old Toll-Gate to Mowe Ibafo, overturned near Capital Oil on the Lagos Ibadan expressway.

"After arriving at the scene, LASTMA personnel immediately secured the environment against area boys including other members of the public who had started scooping diesel with various buckets/jerry cans on the road," Taofiq said.

Police officers from Isheri Division, along with Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and Lasema Response Unit (LRU) personnel, immediately arrived at the scene.

Local residents were seen filling buckets and cans with diesel that spilled on the road. Kazeem Babatunde, a motorist, said, "People are looting, scooping fuel from the tanker," Punch reported.

An X user shared a video of the residents filling fuel from the overturned tank. When police tried to stop them, one resident was heard saying, "Why are they stopping us? The fuel is just wasting."

Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, the permanent secretary of Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, said the state emergency response plan was activated as soon as the alert was received.

"The agency and other first responders intend to remain on high alert until repairs are fully completed," he said, Vanguard reported. "The tanker is also trapping a 14 seater company's bus whose three occupants have been safely evacuated with neither injury nor death."

Read more