By Aliu Akiim
A nursing mother is hospitalized after an Ogun tanker fire victim dies.
Mercy Emmanuel, a mother of four, died after suffering serious burns in the tanker fire incident that happened along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway last Wednesday.
At the same time, a nursing mother who was trying to save her kids from the fire was admitted to the hospital after suffering serious burn injuries.
The fire started last Wednesday when the tanker carrying petroleum capsized around midnight in front of a commercial bank on the Ibafo portion of the highway.
According to eyewitnesses who spoke to our correspondent, the truck’s driver may have fallen asleep behind the wheel and lost control, which ultimately caused the tanker to crash and explode.
A drainage system that connected to the village was around one kilometer from the expressway, according to our journalist who visited the area.
The hamlet was clearly affected by the fire; some buildings had cracked walls, broken windows, and damaged roofs.Ismail Emmanuel, the deceased victim’s husband, told our correspondent on Tuesday that his wife’s view of leaving when the fire began was blocked by the smoke from the conflagration.
He claimed that when her wife tried to flee the flames, she slipped into the drainage, which was unknowingly consumed by the fire.
He went on to say that attempts to save her life were unsuccessful since the hospital asked him to pay an N6 million deposit, which he was unable to do.
“I was at work when my son called me about a fire incident in our community,” Emmanuel recounted. Since he didn’t live with us, I asked him to see how those at home were doing.
When he returned home, he informed me that he was unable to visit my wife. After I requested him to check around, he called me to let me know that my wife had been hurt in the fire and that they were en route to the hospital.We brought her to a Sagamu hospital, from which we were referred to Abeokuta, and from there, to Igbobi in Lagos.
We transferred her to the Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos, where she surrendered the ghost, after Igbobi demanded an N6 million deposit, which I was unable to pay.
He pleaded for the authorities to help his family and emphasized that her late wife’s body had been placed to a private morgue in Ibafo.
A community member who spoke to our correspondent and identified himself as Bidemi also informed us that another victim who was trying to save her children when the fire broke out had since been admitted to the hospital.
She mentioned that the family had not yet gone back to their house because the fire had ruined some of their furniture, such as drapes and chairs.The fire also had an impact on Iya Ada. Chairs, drapes, and other objects were destroyed when the fire spread to her home.
While attempting to save her children, she was burned by the fire. She was hospitalized after falling and getting badly burned by the fire’s heat, Bidemi added.
After losing cars valued at millions of naira due to the fire, some other victims had already pleaded with Dapo Abiodun, the state governor, to help them.
According to the victims, the cars were their sole source of income and how they provided for their families.In response to the event, the governor has urged tanker drivers to be cautious on the roadway and offered his condolences to the victims.
