Lagos Gas Explosion: We’ve no records on tanker, depot – DPR

The last may not have been heard of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker explosion which occurred on Thursday evening on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja as the Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR), the oil and gas industry regulatory says it has no records of the tanker or the depot where it loaded from.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Sun on telephone, the Zonal Operations Controller of DPR, Mr. Ayorinde Cardoso, said preliminary investigation by the agency revealed that there was a leak from an LPG tanker which was ignited by exposed fire from the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant or possibly elsewhere

He explained that no truck can leave any terminal or depot without being certified to ensure that all safety apparatuses, including the safety valves are in order.

Cardoso explained that DPR on getting to the scene of the incident discovered that the truck had already been towed by Lagos State Emergency Management Agency(LASEMA), thus making it difficult for the Department to ascertain further details regarding the truck, driver, owner and the depot where it loaded.

He added that there are several speculations surrounding the identity of the truck, including the depot it loaded from, adding that DPR does not work with speculations but facts, while assuring a full investigation will be launched to determine all the facts that led to the incident.

The DPR Controller assured that it will work closely with LASEMA in order to have access to the tanker in a bid to further unravel all details which would subsequently form part of its detailed and comprehensive report.

LASEMA in its preliminary report, a copy in the possession of Daily Sun also corroborated the claims of DPR on the cause of the incident, adding that a gas tanker of 13. 5 tons in motion was leaking its content and as a result of wind action, the whole area of OPIC structure was engulfed with fire.

‘’Close investigation further revealed that the LPG gas was ignited by the exposed fire from the kitchen of the New Chinese restaurant which followed the trail of the LPG gas resulting in the combustion of the gas tanker outside the compound’’.

But the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safety Experts, a firm involved in the fire safety training, audit and consultancy, Mrs. Debbie Windele, said the fire was an avoidable one because a communiqué issued at the end of the 2nd Lagos Fire Safety Conference held in conjunction with the Lagos State Safety Commission in 2019 proffered solutions to a wide ranging issues around fire safety.

She said it remained regrettable that almost two years after the conference; none of the recommendations contained in the communiqué which was submitted to the Lagos State Government had been implemented.

On regulation and enforcement by DPR, Windele said there is total systematic failure across board, adding that most of these incidents happen outside the depot where the risk is high.

‘‘Are the drivers adequately trained in handling highly flammable and volatile substance? On my way to the office every day, I look at the ones selling cooking gas next door to a battery charger. Who are the people approving such shops? There is total failure from top to bottom. Things must change for better’’.

For his part, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Marketers Association (NALPGAM), Mr.Bassey Essien, said these occurrences are rather sad and particularly with gas explosions, and the attention they generate.

‘‘ Nobody is happy about any incidence, especially when it involves fatalities and loss of properties, it brings great concerns. It is equally heart breaking when the government and stakeholders are doing so much to ensure we harness these natural resources which we have in abundance in Nigeria and the benefits associated with the usage of LPG as a preferred cooking energy as well as the application of LPG in the country’s industrialization potentials and these incidences occur and negatively taking back the hand of the clock on progress recorded so far.

He disclosed that,while awaiting a full and detailed investigation from the regulatory agency and Lagos Safety Commission, just like we have always advocated, safety precautions, applications must be inculcated in every facet of our lives.

He advised that vehicles and trucks on the roads must be on top healthy state, maintenance must not be a manageable affair, saying if a truck has a fault, rather than manage it, the driver should stop and examine the problem and if it’s beyond his immediate sphere of expertise to control the situation, he should raise an alarm, call emergency numbers available for help.

‘‘ If the truck has been arrested or accosted on the road when the leakage was noticed, perhaps help could have come its way. However, a detailed investigation will help to unravel where the leakage came from in the truck and how it could have happened.’’