The National Emergency Management Agency says over 50 buildings were destroyed and one person feared dead, in the explosion in Abule Ado, near the Trade Fair Complex on the Lagos-Badagry highway.
Acting Coordinator of the Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday, said the cause of the incident and casualty figure were currently unknown as “rescue operations are still going on in the affected area”
He said the resulting fire, from the explosion, later spread to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation oil pipeline passing through the area, although the pipeline had been shut down as a precautionary measure.
According to him, a combined team of the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, and the Nigerian Navy Fire Tender are currently battling to put out the inferno.
The explosion, which occurred at about 9.00 a.m. on Sunday caused panic among Lagos residents after it shook many houses in Ijegun, Festac Town and other communities in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area up to Agege, Lagos.
