This video shows the moment just before the Lagos explosion happened.
A video footage has emerged showing the moments just before a fuel tanker spilled fuel onto the Otedola Bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and exploded on Thursday, June 28.
The explosion resulted in the death of at leaast nine people and the destruction of 54 cars that were completely burnt.
In the dash cam footage that was published by a certain Veronica Onuchi on Instagram on Friday, June 29, a driver caught the moment that the fuel tanker started going in reverse in traffic.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) already disclosed that the accident was due to a brake failure and the motorboy of the truck could be seen frantically trying to put a wedge behind the tanker to stop it from moving backwards.
The alarmed driver was caught on camera lamenting about how an accident was about to happen and quickly raced ahead of the tanker.
Watch the video below:
While the video could not be verified independently by Pulse at the time of publishing this story, the time stamp on the video (05:18pm) matches the time that officials have said the explosion happened.
According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the accident occured when a Mack tanker truck loaded with 33,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) fell and spilled its content on the road resulting into a fire outbreak.
At least four others suffered from varying degrees of burns while at least 54 vehicles were also lost to the terrible accident.
Ambode expresses pain over accident
After paying a visit to the scene of the tragic accident as emergency responders cleaned up the scene late on Thursday, state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, took to his Facebook account to express his sadness over the tragic loss of lives.
He wrote, "Very sad day. The loss of lives in an accident like today is very painful. My prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy."
In a statement signed by the state's Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, the government commiserated with families of victims who lost their lives and properties in the fatal tanker explosion. He described the accident as a sad development, saying that it was most unfortunate and regrettable.
He urged motorists to continue to adhere to safety standards and the state's traffic laws so as to prevent a recurrence of such an accident.