http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/nov/18/national-18-11-2009-02.htmFire razes 2 petrol tankers at Ejigbo
•One person seriously injured
By Christopher Oji
Wednesday, November 18, 2009


•Photo: Sun News Publishing
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One person and two tanker lorries were burnt when an arm of the fuel discharging pipe at the NNPC Depot, Ejigbo, Lagos State, went up in flames yesterday. Property worth millions of naira were rescued because many tankers had already loaded before the outbreak. The fire was said to have ignited from a mobile phone set during a call by one of the tanker drivers who was loading fuel at the depot.
It took the brave intervention of street urchins, popularly called Area Boys to put off the fire.

Daily Sun gathered that as the tanker was loading fuel at the depot, a driver was answering phone call and suddenly the arm of the fuel pump caught fire.

The fire was said to have burnt the driver of the tanker who was later rushed to the hospital.
It was gathered that as the fire started, people in the depot took to their heels as they were expecting more havoc to be caused by the incident. Even residents of the area started moving their property away to avert tragedy.
However, the fire was later put off. An eyewitness stated that when the Area Boys who had earlier fled the scene saw that the fire could be contained, they summoned courage and went back to the scene with fire extinguishers and water mixed with liquid soap and put it off. The boys later rescued the driver, who was identified as Wasiu, and subsequently rushed him to a hospital.

A man, who gave his name as Akande Jubril said that goods worth millions of naira were salvaged as most of the tankers were already loaded. He thanked God for his timely intervention in saving the situation from degenerating into a major disaster.
The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Onyisi Nwaolaia, who confirmed the incident, said no casualty was recorded as the fire was immediately put off.
As at press time, soldiers on duty at the depot have restricted movement into the premises. People were seen in groups at the gate discussing the incident.

One of them simply identified as Pastor Christopher said he witnessed the outbreak which he blamed on the driver’s carelessness. According to him, a notice ordering the switching off of mobile phones as posted at the location, but the driver ignored the message and was using his mobile phone.
He advised drivers and their conductors to always switch off their phones at highly inflammable locations.