The sudden explosion of a diesel tanker along Mobolaji Bank Anthony way in Ikeja has led to the death of at least three persons with many injured.
According to reports, three persons were staff of a Chinese restaurant sited few meters away from Sheraton Hotels and Towers and that over 25 vehicles including the tanker, were razed after the fire spread to buildings and other facilities within the axis.
One of the three bodies recovered was identified as Mr. Balogun, manager of the restaurant while four women and nine men were rescued from the scene with different degrees of burns by a joint team of emergency officials including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the state fire service and others.
Confirming the number of casualties, the Public Relations Officer of NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, in an interview with newsmen on Friday, disclosed that the deceased were recovered within the premises by emergency officials during a search and rescue operations.
Farinloye hinted that the emergency officials were yet to ascertain claims by residents and staff of firms in Ogun State Property Investment Corporation (OPIC), one of the buildings that were severely affected by the inferno, that a boy, believed to be within the axis before the explosion occurred, was trapped in the building.
He noted that the claim was made during a headcount carried out by representatives of the offices and supervised by emergency officials to ascertain the number of casualties that could have been trapped in the buildings.
According to him, during a headcount, all we got from the restaurant and representatives of other offices were that a boy is missing. But we were surprised when we intensified search and rescue operations and discovered three bodies. One of the bodies was identified as Mr. Balogun, who was the manager of the restaurant.