By Uzor Odigbo
Fuel scooping Thursday morning caused the death of two unidentified men while several vehicles and shops were burnt in pipeline explosion at Ijegun, Ikotun area of Alimosho council of Lagos state.
According to an eyewitness account, the fire started around 3 00 hours at fire junction along Ijegun -Isheri pipeline.
Illegal bunkerers were said to have positioned three fuel tankers to scoop fuel after bursting the pipeline at the fire junction, when the fire ignited.
Like a wild fire, the fuel ran through gutters, starting from the Isheri road main gutter to Irede street to Ayinde street and terminated at Tijani Awolumate street, where it burnt down two men into a canal.
Aside from the two dead bodies, three vehicles were also burnt at Tijani Awolumate street.
Among the vehicles was a bus which eyewitness said the two victims might have ran out from the bus, when it caught fire to seek relief in the canal.
Unfortunately, there was no water in the canal and sadly the two men died with severe fire burns.
Their boies have since been evacuated by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) ambulance.
The fire which ran through over 3 kilometres along gutters, burnt the Ijegun High School fence, several houses fences, numerous shops and vehicles.
At press time, the fire was still burning as the Fire Service could not do much.
It could be recalled that about 15 years ago, pipeline fire had ravaged Ijegun at that same scene.
It was sparked up by a bulldozer during the construction of the Ijegun-Isheri road.
That same spot is called fire junction today. The same spot the fire ignited Thursday morning.
