Two people were severely injured after a diesel tanker plunged off the Otedola Bridge — along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Lagos — and erupted into a “ferocious inferno beneath the bridge”.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said the “terrifying conflagration left two victims with extensive and severe burn injuries, necessitating their immediate extrication from the danger zone and urgent medical intervention”.

LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, however, said the agency’s emergency response team, in concert with other relevant emergency management agencies, “swiftly mobilised to the scene and successfully rescued the two severely burnt victims from the perilous situation.”

“The injured victims were subsequently evacuated by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency’s Rescue Unit (LRU) to the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre, Toll Gate, where they were admitted for immediate medical attention,” Taofiq said in a statement on Monday evening.

He said operatives of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service were engaged in “concerted firefighting operations to contain and extinguish the raging inferno, prevent its further escalation and avert additional casualties, as well as potential damage to surrounding infrastructure”.

Other emergency and security agencies that participated in the coordinated rescue and containment operations included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency’s Rescue Unit (LRU), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (Neighbourhood Watch) and Police personnel from the Alausa Police Division, the agency said.

The fire led motorists to reroute to avoid the affected section of the expressway. The development resulted in traffic gridlock on the bridge.

Monday’s fire incident is the latest in the long list of accidents in that stretch of the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which connects Lagos to other states in the South-West, South-East and South-South regions. The stretch has recorded several vehicle crashes, roll-overs and tanker explosions in recent years.

The most recent incident came after a 33,000-litre tanker overturned at Ojota Bridge, Lagos – about seven kilometres away from Otedola Bridge – spilling its groundnut oil content on the road. Authorities said the accident was due to a suspected brake failure. (Channels TV)