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| Mr. Omotoso. |
Lagos State Government has dispelled the widespread misinformation about casualties from the Thursday fire incident at Ijora area of the State.
The Commissioner for information and Strategy announced
on Friday afternoon that there was zero death in the fire accident, which
occurred at Orile/Ijora bridge inward Apapa on Wednesday night.
Eleven vehicles were razed by the fire, which broke out
when a truck laden with fuel rolled back while climbing the bridge and hitting
another truck in the process. The collision resulted in the huge balls of fire
that engulfed the scene.
Omotoso told reporters during the visit of some State
Cabinet members who visited scene on Friday afternoon, that there is no truth
in the reports making the rounds that some lives were lost to the fire
incident, adding that such reports were social media fake news. He urged people
to stop posting misleading videos.
Other Cabinet members at the site of the accident on
Friday include the Commissioner of Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi and his
Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations counterpart, Gbenga Oyerinde as
well as Special Adviser on Works Engr. OlayinkAdekunle
According to Omotoso, there was no loss of life or
injuries as occupants of the razed vehicles escaped unhurt.
He said: "A truck was trying to climb the bridge and
another one was close by and another was parked on the bridge, but the space
for them to maneuver was not that large enough. The one that wanted to climb
could not go up; it rolled back and hit the one behind it and there was a spark
that led to the huge fire that we saw last night.
"I have seen some videos of fire from other places
that people mischievously said was what happened here at Ijora and I have seen
some reports that people died here, but I will like to announce to you that we
haven't lost anybody in this fire. About 11 vehicles were involved and now as
you can see our people are trying to clear the place".
Omotoso commended all the First Responders for their
prompt response to the accident while also assuring residents that the site
will soon be cleared completely of the burnt vehicles to ensure free flow of
traffic in the axis.
Omotoso said: “After the incident on Otedola bridge,
around 7:45pm this incident occurred. First, I would like to thank our first
responders on the way they reacted to this accident; they made sure it wasn’t
as bad as some people thought. They responded as fast as possible;
firefighters, LASEMA were all here; they put in a yeoman’s job to put out the
fire.
"About forty percent clearance of the scene of the
accident has been done now. All of the vehicles you are seeing here are going
to be moved away from here and taking to a safer place. Normalcy will return
here in a matter of hours".
The Commissioner corrected insinuations that the accident
was as a result of a bad road, saying the State government had been carrying
out palliative works on the road to ensure smooth transportation around the
axis.
He said the government was not neglecting the road.
"Well, if you look at this road you will
notice that it has been enjoying some palliatives for some time; it is not a
road that has been left to deteriorate anyhow as you see the stones and pebbles
that have been put in the pot holes that we have here. That shows the
government is not neglecting this road even at the Federal level.
"In fact, as we speak, meetings are on-going on
modalities to fix this and as matter of fact the contract to fix this road has
been awarded," Omotoso said.
Also present at the briefing were heads of Lagos State Fire Service and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency.
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