A gas explosion at the Mobil Filling Station near Airport Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos State, on Thursday morning led to injuries for at least nine people and the destruction of several vehicles. The explosion, which occurred at approximately 10:49 a.m., caused widespread panic among local residents and businesses.
According to sources, there were no fatalities reported at the scene, but the explosion triggered a fire that spread rapidly, affecting about nine vehicles parked nearby. An attendant at the station, who requested anonymity, described the terrifying moment: “I was assisting a customer when I heard a loud bang from the gas area. Before I knew it, the vehicles close to the gas truck were already on fire. My colleagues and I, along with customers, had to flee immediately.”
One eyewitness, identified as Tunde, noted that the rapid spread of the fire made it impossible to rescue any of the vehicles before the arrival of the fire department. “The fire spread so quickly that no one had time to move their vehicles,” he said. “Had the station been crowded due to a fuel shortage, the situation could have been much worse.”
Adamu, a fruit vendor who was nearby when the explosion occurred, confirmed that the fire started while a gas tanker was offloading its contents into an above-ground storage tank. “The explosion was powerful,” he said, adding that he saw yellow buses transporting at least three injured individuals to the hospital.
The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Maintenance Agency, Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, corroborated these accounts. He explained that a damaged pipe on an eight-ton LPG gas cylinder caused a rapid gas leak, which then ignited and triggered the explosion.
Oke-Osanyintolu reported that two men sustained severe burns, while seven others suffered minor injuries. Additionally, approximately ten vehicles, including both commercial and private ones, were damaged, along with parts of a nearby two-storey building.
Emergency responders swiftly arrived at the scene, with the agency’s pre-hospital care team, in collaboration with LASAMBUS, providing immediate medical attention to the injured before transferring them to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for further treatment.
The fire was eventually brought under control through the combined efforts of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the agency’s Local Response Team (LRT), preventing further spread to surrounding areas. The site has since been cordoned off to ensure public safety and facilitate a return to normalcy.
Oke-Osanyintolu also noted that two LPG gas cylinders, one weighing 12 tons and the other eight tons, have been secured at the site to prevent any additional explosions.
In a statement posted on its X.com handle, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that the fire had engulfed eight vehicles, including the tanker, and damaged part of a nearby two-storey building. The exact number of victims was not immediately available, but all injured individuals were transported to LASUTH for treatment.
This explosion follows a similar incident in April in the Ajegunle-Apapa area of Lagos State, where nine people, including a pregnant woman, were injured. That explosion was also caused by a gas leak, which ignited a high-tension cable and led to a fire in an area known for its gas cylinder trading activities.
