Tragedy struck in Lagos on Wednesday when fire gutted a branch of Access Bank on Adetokunbo Ademola Street, in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The fire reportedly started when a tanker laden with petroleum product believed to be diesel was discharging the product in the bank premises.
Eye witnesses said the fuel tanker and a car parked in the premises were completely razed by the fire, which spread to the bank building.
A source said the bank’s fire-fighters could not salvage the situation, saying, “but for the urgent intervention of external fire fighters, that bank branch would have been completely razed and the damage to other offices nearby would have been colossal.”
A combined team of fire fighters from LASEMA, Eko Hotel, Lagos Fire service, UBA Fire Service, and Federal Fire Service were said to have intervened immediately and were able to put out the fire to prevent it from escalating.
The General Manager, LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed that no life was lost. He said: “On arrival at the incident scene, it was observed that a fully loaded 33,000 litres diesel tanker with number plate AKD 637 XP and a car stationed beside it with number plate AKD 234 FA were completely ravaged by the fire.
“Investigation conducted at the scene revealed that the tanker was dispensing diesel for the uses of generators in the bank premises and inadvertently caught fire.
“A combined intervention of the emergency responders, LASEMA Response Team, Eko Hotel, LASG fire, UBA Fire Service, and Federal Fire were able to arrest the fire and stop it from escalating further to the building in the premises.”