Six members of a family in a car narrowly escaped death on Saturday after a tanker loaded with 44,000 litres of diesel went up in flames on Otedola bridge, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

 It was learnt that the family narrowly escaped from the explosion scene before the fire spread to where the car was.

 UGAMATV  gathered that the tanker was ascending the bridge and was outward-bound around 5.30pm when its tyre burst.

 It reportedly descended and collided into an oncoming haulage truck, sparking a fire in the process.

 The incident was said to have caused panic among commuters plying the expressway.

Officials from the Lagos State Fire Service, the state’s emergency management agency and the National Emergency Management Agency were said to have responded to the incident and put out the fire which caused a gridlock on the highway.

Acting Zonal Coordinator, South-West Zonal Office, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said the explosion involved a tanker and a Toyota Camry “carrying six members of the same family”.

He said, “The tanker was fully loaded with 44,000 litres of AGO (diesel) and was moving toward the Berger area of the expressway when one of its tyres suddenly burst into flames.

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“People in the immediate vicinity of the accident had called out to the driver of the tanker to stop, but he reportedly tried to reverse the vehicle instead of stopping, thereby colliding with the other vehicles.

“The driver of a haulage truck, the family of six, the tanker driver and his assistant all escaped unhurt.”