The Accident that Wasted Precious Fuel At Anthony Oke [Photos]

I was wrapping up some late night work at my office at about after 10pm when I got the news that a Diesel tanker had had an accident very near the office. I had the opportunity of doing a report that night – talking to the firefighters and rescue workers that had arrived on the scene finding out details et al but I had a snagging headache, a terrible cold and I needed to get home and sleep badly, so I just drove past the scene of the accident – the same area I had passed around 9pm when I came back to the office that night. Talk about God’s saving grace.

The tanker after being moved from the Corona School Compound

The incident happened at Anthony-Oke turnaround junction; the axis where you connect the Gbagada express to Anthony Busstop of Ikorodu road. Two prominent schools are situated in that location – Greensprings School and Corona School. 

The last time a tanker burst and let out its petrol all over the place, Greensprings School had to evacuate all its students away from the danger zone as the petrol flowed into the school environs. They were kept at a safe location till it was all contained (You can read the report on that incident here). This time, Corona School was the unlucky victim. Fortunately no one was on the school premises since it was during their holidays and this happened late at night.

The part of the Corona School compound where the tanker crashed through

The tanker had rolled down the valley that led into a nearby estate and crashed through the wall of Corona School, leaking its content into the school compound. What a pity that at a time when fuel scarcity is everywhere, a tanker lies here leaking away this precious cargo, giving area boys a field day to scoop the liquid booty

I was at the scene briefly this morning to capture shots. By that time the tanker had been moved out of the Corona School compound and situated nearby. It was still leaking diesel and area boys were all over the place with kegs scooping as much as they could. Police, LASTMA and firefighters were up and about controlling the situation. 

I must commend the fire service on their quick response, they had been there since the night before working to keep danger at bay. The police as usual were there supposedly securing the place but then I saw one of them accost of woman taking pictures and taking her to meet his boss…hmm…Naija Police sha…I wonder for what reason.

One other thing I saw about the scene where people interviewing rescuers with phones and audio recorders - definitely bloggers who wanted to capture information for their sites no doubt. It got me wondering...maybe if I had done some coverage last night, I might have had the upper hand with night-time pictures of the accident still very fresh before the tanker was moves this morning...I guiess blogging breaking news does have its sacrifices.