Woman dies, nursing mother battles for life after tanker exploded in Ibafo, Ogun State
A mother of four, Mercy Emmanuel, has succumbed to the injuries she sustained in a devastating tanker explosion at Ibafo, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway last Wednesday.
A second woman, a nursing mother, who rescued her children from the inferno, is battling for her life in a hospital following the incident.
The accident happened around midnight after the driver of the tanker allegedly dozed off behind the wheel.
It was gathered that the tanker veered off the expressway and was overturned near a commercial bank, spilling its inflammable content on the expressway and the drainage.
The tanker then exploded in a ball of fire that spread to the victims’ community about a kilometre away from the accident scene, damaging buildings and infrastructure.
Ismail Emmanuel, the husband of the deceased, recounted that he was at work when he was called by his son who does not stay with them.
He said the son said he just got home and could not find his mum inside the house and there had been a fire incident.
He said he instructed him to look around and check with neighbours.
Ismail Emmanuel said the son later called him back with the information that he was on his way to the hospital they took his mother to.
He told the Punch, “We took her to a hospital in Sagamu where we were referred to Abeokuta and from Abeokuta, we were referred to Igbobi in Lagos. Upon getting to Igbobi, I was told to make a deposit of N6m which I couldn’t afford and we moved her to the Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos where she gave up the ghost.”
He recounted that his wife almost escaped the fire but her visibility was impaired by the smoke emanating from the inferno.
As a result, she fell into a drainage that had already been filled with the tanker’s contents and was engulfed in flames.
A resident named Bidemi, said her neighbour, identified as Iya Ada, was still in the hospital.
According to Bidemi, Iya Ada sustained burns on one side of her as she was trying to save her children from the inferno.
The affected families have called for government assistance, while Governor Dapo Abiodun has extended his condolences and urged tanker drivers to prioritize road safety.
