A Close Shave With Fueled Death [With Photos]


I had just left my office at about 12.30pm today to meet with wifey at the end of the street leading to my office when I heard a loud smashing metal noise coming from the nearby road that descended from the bridge. I saw what looked like trailers cavorting on the road, took wifey and bolted away from the location.

A trailer carrying cement was trying to overtake another which was a fuel tanker for Total petroleum. In the process, the cement trailer brushed against the fuel tanker causing the cylinder tanker to burst open spilling out fuel all over the place.
The location was between Anthony Oke along Gbagada expressway and Ikorodu expressway.

There was instant panic as cars fled from the scenario. The hold-up that had kept them at a standstill suddenly cleared miraculously. One guy actually took his bag and fled his car. He eventually went back to take his car when the chaos died down a bit.

The Petrol Tanker Trailer

The building in the background is Greensprings School

To one side of the fuel tanker was Greensprings School, to the other side was Corona School, both high brow schools attended by children of well to do Nigerians. Corona was still safe from the spilling fuel but Greensprings was not. The fuel rushed and flowed towards their compound. The location of the school has always been debated as being a bad location for a school; it sat in the axis between Ikorodu expressway and Gbagada expressway.

Greenspring Students evacuated to a safer location

Buses from Greenspring evacuating nursery pupils 



Greensprings students with staff from the school


Students and pupils were immediately evacuated from Greensprings to a safer location. But that did not mean they were all out of harms way. A student who was asthmatic suddenly began to react to the strong smell of petrol and had to be attended to as an emergency. The smell of fumes was so strong that peoples eyes watered, skins smarted from the gas emitting from the petrol.

Excess Petrol flowing in the gutter



People rushing to fetch petrol from the gutter in the distance.


Wasted fuel rushed so much that it flowed through the gutters near our office before emptying into a canal in a nearby bush. Company drivers, security men and a host of other neighborhood individuals seized the opportunity to get buckets and kegs to fetch fuel from the gutters.

I watched in stupefaction. This people still haven't learnt from all the fuel scooping disasters reported in the past in the media; the most recent the one of 20 people who were burnt to death in Abia State along Aba/Ikot Ekpene highway.

The fire service department finally showed up and poured foam all over the road to contain the spilling fuel. The road was blocked and re-routed for safety. Then they flushed the gutters to rid the fuel flowing through all the way into the canal.

The fire service surprisingly took control of the situation and did well.

By the time I sat down back at my desk, I felt heavy in the head and slightly sickly due to the fumes. The smell had been so thick in the air we all felt the effect.

I can't imagine how many houses, lives and property would have been lost if someone had been careless to do something that would ignite an inferno.

Thank God another disaster was averted.



14 Screamer(s):

thank God

Real8 said...

God help Nigeria

Nestorhymes said...

Bro i thank God for ur life and dat of the Mrs. it was absolutely God at work. that story u published could have been worse than dis . may God continue to keep his children o

Toinlicious said...

Ah, that was so close

Anonymous said...

To God be d glory great thing He had done. God really love this country so we should to be prayerful and desist from sin. We just want to say thank you Lord

Sykik said...

Thank God for the gift of life. Evil will always be far from us and ours.

People never learn. Why risk life for a 25 liter keg of petrol?

Eya Ayambem said...

Happy it ended well. Lol at the man that took his bag and fled his car, who wouldn't? with all that we have witnessed in this country.

That man running to fetch fuel eh.

Eya Ayambem said...

I am now one of your followers o.

Oh wow, thank God nobody got seriously hurt!!

I really don't understand this scooping petrol of a thing. I mean if they were oranges, go ahead and pick, but petrol?? something that can kill u in a second and has killed many others, people still go to scoop. Is the poverty that bad or people don't just regard life anymore. Even if the poverty is that bad. Is it that petrol you risked your life to scoop that'd take u out of poverty and make u "hammer". Because in that kind of situation I won't even bat an eye lash if anything happens to any of such people. Imagine scooping petrol!!!!!

Yemmi said...

I am a mother of a child @ Corona. I was @ work when I heard this news & was in panic. But when I read your blog the only web page with the most comprehensive story & pics I nearly died!!! Can we all thank God enough for His mercies? I still shudder even now to imagine the number of families that would have been sorrowing now. But He is God & He loves the little children & will always protect them from harm.

Thank you for this; I am a first time reader of your blog, but now you have another fan......

Afronuts said...

@Doll…Thank God oh!
@Real8…As per people fetching fuel shey?

@Nestoryhmes…What can I say but praise God for protection from another disaster

@Toinlicious…Very close!

@Sykik…people just don’t learn…they act like life has a duplicate.

@Eya…Thanks for the comment Eya. I’ve also put you on my bloglist

@coy introvert….For some litres of fuel, you risk the life that has no duplicate. See poverty wisdom oh!

@Yemmi….Th@Doll…Thank God oh!

@Real8…As per people fetching fuel shey?

@Nestoryhmes…What can I say but praise God for protection from another disaster

@Toinlicious…Very close!

@Sykik…people just don’t learn…they act like life has a duplicate.

@Eya…Thanks for the comment Eya. I’ve also put you on my bloglist

@coy introvert….For some litres of fuel, you risk the life that has no duplicate. See poverty wisdom oh!

@Yemmi….Thank you for reading and commenting and for following my blog. Thank God nothing terrible happened and for keeping the children. I never stop doing my best to bring you info as accurate as possible. Please send the link of this site to your friends, the more people read and comment, the more I'm encouraged to keep writing.

Anonymous said...

Thank you LORD!
I rejoice with my fellow Nigerians.
Why won't Nigerians ever learn???
Happy the fire service responded on time and did well.
E pele oo and i thank GOD especially for you and wifey.
I liked what teh man did, ran away from his car first....i will do the same thing.

Ginger said...

Thanking for sparing lives and property. I am familiar with that area and can appreciate he disaster it would have been.

p.s. Kush, forgive me if i speak out of turn, but the pix of those burnt corpses (May their souls rest in peace) shouldnt be there. It serves no purpose to this otherwise 'thankful' post. Lets treat our dead with dignity even online.

Afronuts said...

@Simply mee....to Him be the glory oh!

@Ginger...Thanks for that point of note. I'll take it out.