EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
Lagosians, especially those close to Ashoba (near Abule Odo) in Amuwo Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos will not forget Sunday (today) 15th of March, 2020 in a hurry because of the unfortunate pipeline explosion that caught them unawares, led to the loss of lives and destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
So far, at least 15 bodies have been recovered while rescue operations are still ongoing.
Spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the casualty figures to newsmen on Sunday.
Farinloye said that the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and efforts are ongoing to rescue some children that are reportedly trapped under some collapsed buildings in the affected area.
The headquarters of the Lagos Province 3 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) located on 24 Road, Festac Town, Lagos was burnt along with over 50 buildings.
The explosion which occurred more than a kilometre away from the church premises, shattered its glass windows, injuring worshippers.
A parish of the First Baptist Church near the RCCG parish also lost a part of its roof to the explosion.
The roof of a parish of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) located at 7th Avenue, Festac Town, was also blown off by the explosion which equally shattered the roof of the Ark Parish of the RCCG at 1st Avenue, many kilometers away from the explosion scene.
The Bethel Secondary School, a boarding school owned by the Catholic Church in Abule Ado, was brought down by the explosion, with many of its students injured and some feared dead.
Many other buildings very far from the explosion scene in Abule Ado, Festac Extension in Amuwo Odofin LGA, were also brought down while many others shook during the explosion that threw thousands of residents in panic and confusion.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that residents of the area woke up happily with some preparing to go to church without an inkling of what was to befall them latter in the morning. However, some few minutes to 9 am, a bang that shook the entire state to its foundation was heard. The ensuring pandemonium is better imagined.
School principal dies rescuing her students
The principal of a nearby girls secondary school, Sisters of Sacred Heart, Rev Sr.Henrietta Alokha was caught up in the inferno rescuing her students. She paid the ultimate price with her life.
Boarding school students injured but rescued
Also, reports on the incident revealed that students of Bethlehem Girls, another girls (boarding) school in the area were seriously injured in the unfortunate incident. The school building was seriously affected but rescue operations commenced on time. However, eyewitnesses said more bodies were pulled out of different buildings in the area.
Over 50 buildings destroyed in the explosion – NEMA
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency confirmed on Sunday that over 50 houses were destroyed in the explosion.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Coordinator of the Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, confirmed the development in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Sunday.
Farinloye said that the cause of the incident and casualty figure was currently unknown as “rescue operations are still going on in the affected area’’.
He said the resulting fire, from the explosion, later spread to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) oil pipeline passing through the area, although though the pipeline has been shut down as a precautionary measure.
According to him, a combined team of the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service and the Nigerian Navy Fire Tender are currently battling to put out the inferno.
The explosion, which occurred at about 9.00 a.m. on Sunday caused panic among Lagos residents after it shook many houses in Ijegun, Festac Town and other communities in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area up to Agege, near Lagos.
Fire services experienced difficulty gaining access
Meanwhile, TNG correspondent who visited the area shortly after the blast said rescue operatives especially the fire fighters had difficulty accessing the area because of the shambles that litter the streets.