Hoodlums on Saturday morning attacked fire fighters from the Lagos State Fire Service and operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps deployed for the accident on Kara Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The accident occurred at about 1am on Saturday, with the FRSC confirming the death toll of two as earlier reported by The Eagle Online.
Twenty-nine vehicles, the FRSC said, were burnt in the accident.
According to the Corps spokesman, Bisi Kazeem, the teams from the LSFS and FRSC were stopped from accessing the scene of the accident by hoodlums who used dangerous weapons to attack them.
A vehicle of the LSFS was damaged.
Kazeem said they had to run back to get help from Isheri Divisional Police Headquarters.
He said: “When our personnel got to the scene, they met teams of Lagos State Fire Service who advised our men against approaching the scene of the crash.
“The fire fighters said they were equally deployed to the scene for same reason but on arrival, they were chased back by some hoodlums, carrying dangerous weapons.”
Kazeem, however, said the Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has described as unfortunate but avoidable the fatal crash.
Oyeyemi said frantic efforts are already in place to put an end to tanker explosions.
He stated that the fatal road traffic crash involved a single tanker fully ladened with PMS.
The driver was said to have lost control of the wheels as a result of mechanical deficiency (tyre blow out), making the tanker to fall on the expressway amidst a wild inferno.
Oyeyemi called on Governments at all levels to expedite action towards working out modalities that will support and hasten existing efforts towards fleet renewal as most of the articulated vehicles are aged, while efforts are on to enforce compulsory use of safety valves to prevent spillage after falls of tankers.
On the present state of traffic on the road, the Corps said there was no need for panic as the crashed vehicles have been successfully removed from the road and all obstructions cleared with the road now opened to use.
Kazeem said as such, road users already on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or intending users who have not explored alternative roads should please exercise caution and drive safe, avoid speeding, road rage and ultimately avoid driving against the flow of traffic, adding: “FRSC wishes us safe journey to our various destinations.