Three injured in gas plant explosion

  

A burnt truck on the premises

No fewer than three people sustained burns in the Sangotedo area of Lagos State on Tuesday after a cooking gas filling plant, belonging to Second Coming Nigeria Limited, caught fire and subsequently exploded.

Rescue officials told PUNCH Metro that the incident occurred while workers were refilling a gas tank.

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razaq Fadipe, told our correspondent that it was possible that there was a gas leak after which it ignited fire.

Fadipe said, “Around 5.30am in Sangotedo end of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, a truck laden with gas, was emptying its content into a tank on the premises of the company. In the process, there was a huge fire. We were called and we rushed down to the scene.

“We had to use five truck “loads of water from Epe and Eti Osa fire stations to put out the fire. The fire was put out but it had consumed some equipment on the premises.”

However, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, told PUNCH Metro that there was reason to suspect  foul play as the company’s fence was broken and people  had attempted to steal some of the gas.

Our correspondent learnt that a cooking gas cylinder was found nearby, prompting the theory that someone might have attempted to divert some of the gas.

“The victims, who were badly burnt, were transferred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital for treatment but were later referred to Gbagada General Hospital,” Farinloye said.