The driver and all the 16 passengers inside a commercial bus escaped death by the whiskers when the vehicle powered by gas exploded along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday morning.
The fully loaded Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered commercial Toyota Hiace bus suddenly erupted into flames while on motion at the Berger end of the Lagos-bound section of the expressway.
The driver and the passengers were coming from the Mowe-Ibafo axis towards Lagos when the vehicle suddenly caught fire, triggering panic among passengers and other motorists plying the ever-busy expressway.
Following the explosion, emergency and rescue officials, including LASTMA personnel, mobilised to the scene, rescuing the 17 occupants.
However, a male passenger, who was seated at the rear section of the vehicle, sustained severe burn injuries during the incident and was immediately conveyed to the Lagos State Trauma and Emergency Centre, Ojota Toll Gate, for urgent medical intervention.
Officers of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service also got to the scene on deployed their firefighting equipment to extinguish the inferno while personnel of the Ojodu Police Division ensured maintenance of law and order, securing the accident scene throughout the duration of the rescue and firefighting operations.
The incident caused massive traffic bottleneck on the section of the road before the restoration of a better traffic flow.
