Mercy Emmanuel, a mother of four, died as a result of serious burns sustained during a tanker fire on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway last Wednesday.
This comes as a nursing mother, who was attempting to save her children from the fire, has been hospitalized after suffering severe injuries.
According to reports, the fire started around midnight when the petro-laden tanker crashed in front of a commercial bank on the Ibafo portion of the road.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the truck’s driver was suspected of falling asleep at the wheel, causing him to lose control and the tanker to tumble and explode.
The petroleum leak was discovered to have gone through a drainage system that led to the village around one km from the freeway.
The fire had a noticeable impact on the community, leaving some buildings with shattered windows, damaged roofs, and fractured walls.
The deceased victim’s husband, Ismail Emmanuel, claimed that the smoke from the flames impeded her wife’s view of escape when the fire began.
He claimed that her wife attempted to flee the conflagration by falling into the drainage, which, unbeknownst to her, had become consumed in flames.
He went on to say that his efforts to save her life were futile since he was required to pay an N6 million deposit at the hospital, which he couldn’t afford.
Emmanuel narrated, “I was at work when my son called me about a fire incident in our community. I asked him to check on those at home because he was not living with us. He told me that he couldn’t see my wife when he got home. I asked him to look around and after some moment, he called me back that they were on the way to the hospital and that my wife had sustained injuries in the fire.
“We took her to a hospital in Sagamu where we were referred to Abeokuta and from Abeokuta, we were referred to Igbobi in Lagos. Upon getting to Igbobi, I was told to make a deposit of N6m which I couldn’t afford and we moved her to the Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos where she gave up the ghost.”
He emphasized that her late wife’s body had been deposited at a private morgue in Ibafo, while begging with the government to assist his family.
Also speaking with our correspondent, a resident in the village who identified himself as Bidemi informed us that another victim who was attempting to rescue her children when the fire erupted had been hospitalized.
She mentioned that the family had yet to return to their home after the fire damaged several of their belongings, including chairs and drapes.
“Iya Ada was also affected by the fire. The fire caught her house and destroyed chairs, curtains and some other items. The fire burnt her while she was trying to rescue her children. She fell and the heat of the fire burnt her sideways and she has since been hospitalised,” Bidemi said.
Earlier, several other fire victims had petitioned the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, for assistance after losing automobiles worth millions of naira in the event.
The victims stated that the vehicles were their sole source of income and the way by which they supported their families.
Meanwhile, the governor has expressed his condolences to the victims of the event and urged tanker drivers to take prudence on the roads.
