In picture above: Men of the Lagos State fire service fighting the blaze caused by an LPG tanker explosion.
Lagos Govt begins investigations as casualty figure rises to five
The management of the Marriott Bonvoy, operators of the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, have said that none of their guests were affected by the blast from the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker explosion which took place on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja on Thursday night.
Official figures put the number of casualties in the explosion at five.
13 others suffered varying degrees of injury after an LPG tanker exploded directly in front of OPIC plaza and adjacent to the Lagos Sheraton Hotel.
No fewer than 24 cars were also destroyed, while a part of a building at OPIC Plaza was severely damaged by the incident which occurred at about 10.32p.m.
In a statement by Marriott, “At the sound of the blast, our guests and employees were moved to a safe location within the property,”
“There was no serious damage to the hotel building,” the statement added.
The Marriott statement said, “Our thoughts are with those seriously hurt by this incident, which happened on a nearby plot.”
“The safety and security of our guests and employees is always our first priority and we thoroughly checked the building before clearing it for their return. The hotel remains open and operating as normal.” The statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government says it is commencing investigations to determine the cause of the gas explosion.
According to a Lagos State government official, persons found at fault may be prosecuted.
Lanre Majola, Director General, Lagos State Safety Commission, speaking to newsmen on Friday, said, “Our investigation is going on. At the end of the day, we will publish our report, and if we find out that anyone is liable, we will prosecute the person. We believe that bad practices cannot just continue in this country.”
According to him, “We have been told that the truck spilled its content. Ideally, every truck should have two safety valves. In the event that there is an external force, it will keep the content protected.
“Even if there is a little bit of escape, it won’t cause as much damage,” he said.
