CONFUSION AS FIRE GUTS FILLING STATION

There was pandemonium at Ikotun area of Lagos State on Tuesday, when fire broke out at a Total Filling Station in the area.

The sign post at one of the two entrances of the station went up in flames around 7.20am when most residents of the area were on their way to work.

The station, which shares a fence with a new generation bank, is located at NNPC Bus-stop, along Isolo road, in Ikotun.

The incident caused panic at the bus-stop as residents ran in different directions. Their anxiety was heightened by the fact that there was a fuel tanker inside the station, not far from where the fire started.

Our correspendent gathered that the fire started when some high tension wires on an electric pole at the entrance of the filling station fell off and sparked.

As the fire raged, both the customers who were on queue to buy fuel; the bank's staff and customers waiting for the opening time, as well as passersby ran to safety.

The incident further compounded a traffic gridlock that existed on the road as drivers and Okada riders, made a quick U-turn to avoid the fire.

An eyewitness, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, 'I have never seen this kind of thing before in this area.' Other residents in the area blamed the spark on poor maintenance on the part of the filling station.