Gas Explosion in Akure | Fire Men didn't come "We are on Strike, they said"

A vicious gas explosion on Saturday rocked a gas station on Arakale road, Akure.

According to eyewitness reports, a shop owner who is one of the gas sellers, was pumping gas when it exploded, setting scores of houses ablaze. A Toyota Sienna car was being burnt as of the time of filing this report.

The driver was said to have tried to kick-start the car on sighting the explosion. It however did not start quickly so he abandoned the car and ran away.

The fire reportedly started at about 6.36 p.m. but as of 7.43 p.m. no fire service personnel or security agency has arrived.

Another account has it that it was actually a gas tank parked too close to the road that exploded.

The resident resorted to throwing sachet water and any water they could find into the fire.

The Sienna bus was driven by a woman.

They also cordoned off the section of the road and diverted traffic due to the raging fire.

Most of those who spoke to Sunday Tribune indicated that men of the fire service refused to come when contacted, claiming to be on strike.

http://tribune.com.ng/news/news-headlines/item/24151-gas-explosion-rocks-akure

EIGHT persons,including a pregnant woman, were seriously injured while property worth millions of naira were razed in an inferno occasioned by a gas explosion in Akure, the Ondo State capital late on Saturday.

No fewer than 20 shops were burnt.

Also, 12 miscreants were said to have been arrested for allegedly looting shops while the fire raged.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and the state's Police Commissioner, Mr Isaac Eke, visited the scene yesterday and addressed the market women and shop owners affected by the fire.

National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the state police command said nobody died in the incident contrary to some newspaper reports, yesterday.