Amidu Arije
News reaching The Nigerian Xpress now indicates that an early morning pipeline explosion at Ijegun area of Lagos State has left many people dead.
Our correspondent gathered that some suspected bunkers were on their way out after scooping fuel from a vandalised pipeline in the community when one of their tankers fell and spilled fuel.
The fuel spillage was said to have caused the fire incident that engulfed the Last Bus Stop area of Ijegun.
The fire was so massive that residents had to run for dear lives, thus abandoning their property in the process.
As of the time of filing this report, the figure of the casualties and burnt property could not be ascertained as the flames prevented people from gaining access to the area to examine the situation.
An eyewitness, Babajide Lawal, said residents had ignored the sound of gun fire at midnight, but the noise of the explosion woke them up in the neighbourhood.
Lawal said, “There is fire incident at Ijegun Last Bus Stop. In fact, no one can move near the place because the whole area is burning. What woke us up was the sound of explosion and when we came out to observe what happened, we saw the fire burning everywhere.”