The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has disclosed that the fire incident earlier reported at a Mobil Filling Station in Ikeja, Lagos, was caused by a gas leak.
NEMA, in a statement posted on its X handle on Thursday explained that its Lagos Territorial Office (LTO) responded to a distress call around 11 am today, August 8th, 2024, regarding a gas fire incident at the Mobil Filling Station beside Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
It said, upon arriving at the scene, further investigation revealed that there was no ongoing discharge or transloading of gas, narrating that the station was selling fuel and gas to customers when a gas hose used for refueling disengaged, causing a gas leak.
“The attendants immediately stopped the sale of gas and fuel and instructed customers not to start their car engines. Unfortunately, a customer started their engine, igniting the fire, which quickly spread to vehicles passing by the filling station”, NEMA explained.
It disclosed that about eight vehicles and one gas truck were burnt as a result of the incident.
“Additionally, a two-story building adjacent to the Mobil filling station was partially burned. One male victim suffered 70% burns, and one female victim sustained 90% burns”, it said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) had earlier clarified that the reported explosion at a filling station in Ikeja Lagos has nothing to do with the recently commissioned NNPC Gas Marketing Ltd (NGML)/NIPCO Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Stations.
NNPC, in a statement on Thursday by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, clarified that the newly commissioned CNG stations are functioning and running safely without any incident.
The NNPC Ltd also add that “the NGML was not affected by the explosion; it is not involved in the activities of the affected station and all NGML facilities in Lagos, including pipelines, metering stations, above-ground installation and CNG facilities are in safe operating condition”.
