An unidentified man was on Sunday killed and a driver injured after a 40-ft container truck plunged into the canal at Ajegunle inward Toll Gate in Lagos.
Also, many escaped deaths after two trucks laden with Automated Gas Oil (AGO) and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) were involved in separate accidents at Oregun and Alakuko areas of the State
The three accidents, it was gathered, brought traffic to a halt for several hours in the affected areas with rescuers battling to contain a fire that erupted in the Oregun incident
It was gathered that the Oregun tanker laden with 45,000 liters of AGO, fell on a high tension electric pole while the driver was trying to negotiate a bend into Etal Avenue.
Fortunately, the driver and his motor boy were said to have fled before the inferno which was eventually put out by rescuers to prevent an escalation into a nearby gas station and other facilities.
These accident which occurred within the time worshippers were going to and fro worship centers, was said to have caused heavy gridlock that extended to other parts of the State.
Motorists along the affected roads took to social media to raise alarm, just as they lamented delays experienced.
At Oregun for instance, the traffic was said to have extended to the the Berger Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on one side and up to Oworonshoki on the other side.
According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), no life was lost or injury recorded in the Oregun incident.
LASEMA said the tanker started discharging its content, adding that it immediately caught fire when it fell on the High Tension cable.
“No mortality nor injury recorded at the scene of the incident, however, trans-loading operations ongoing.
Other agencies on ground include, Lagos State fire service, LASTMA, NSCDC and Police.
“The agency’s super metro will be required for swift recovery of the fallen tanker. Trans-loading operation ongoing,” Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary LASEMA, said.
At Alakuko, Oke-Osanyintolu said the fallen tanker was laden with 10,000 litres of PMS, adding that it fell as a result of brake failure.
“The truck veered off the road and subsequently crashed into the ditch. The driver as well as the motorboy escaped unhurt.
“Further investigation revealed the leaked products didn’t portend any significant risk to the incident scene (which is bushy and swampy by topography).
“The Lagos and Ogun Fire & Safety Services have dampened the incident scene as threat of possible ignition have been averted. The agency’s crane is being used to remove the affected truck from the road,” he said.
Giving updates on the fallen truck, Oke-Osanyintolu said it was conveying a 40ft container when it sufferer mechanical fault a d plunged into the canal.
He said the truck driver sustained injuries and was taken to an unknown hospital by onlookers before the arrival of emergency workers.
“The Nigeria Police (Sango Ota and Alagbado divisions) further confirmed a bystander (adult male), lost his life before the truck veered off the road and plunged into the canal.
“The accidented truck laden with 40ft container has been recovered off the with the aid of the agency’s heavy duty (Crane). The wreckage and the incident scene were subsequently handed over to the Nigeria Police (Alagbado and Sango Ota) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
“Operations concluded as the ease of vehicular movement along the carriageway has been restored, he said. The Nation.