Houses and other buildings shattered, pulled down; churches and homes in Satellite Town, Festac, more than four kilometers away affected, over 300 students in a secondary school narrowly escaped being roosted. Many are reported dead and those injured rushed to Navy Hospital in Ojo, Satellite Town. Many were seen crying for lost homes, cars and facilities.
Sitting room sliding doors of the house of the publisher of eWorldnews.com.ng, more than four kilometers away from the scene of occurrence shattered. Also the roof of the church, Redeeming Love Chapel, in Grace Land Estate, Satellite Town was affected.
The explosion that occurred at about 9 am in a pipeline located in the Abule Ado area, opposite Satellite Town in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government area was massive, heard kilometres away, shattering homes and vehicles.
At the time of filing this report the fire was still flaring and smoke still spewing. Efforts of the three firefighting vehicles on duty are yielding some result though. No security personnel were around the area, as onlookers shaken by the event watched and took videos and pictures.
The cause of the fire explosion is not known yet, but an official of a secondary school, Bethlehem Girls College, from where the students were evacuated, said the explosion may have been ignited by a smoke that started nearby, from where a resulting fire found its way to the pipeline that caused the explosion. He said there is a gas station, NIPCO, around the area but he would not confirm if the smoke came from there.
Today’s incidence is a clarion call to both the state and federal government to relocate the over 12 tank farms and container terminals that encompass the communities, before something more devastating happens. The Satellite Town Forum has been drawing the attention of the danger posed to the communities by the presence of the tank farms, but government and the the tank farms owners have ignore their cry.
