By Ifeanyi Okolie
LAGOS—There was pandemonium, Wednesday , at Kirikiri Town, a suburb of Lagos State, when fire gutted an oil tanker belonging to one of the major oil firms operating in the area, Techno Oil.

The fire, which started around 1:00p.m., was allegedly caused by a welder, who was said to be repairing one of the tanks.

News of the fire which rattled the entire community, sent residents running in different directions.

Inhabitants of Creek View Estate which is situated some few miters away from the tank farms,  were forced to evacuated their homes for the  fear of a possible explosion, while pupils of Great Trinity  Nursery Primary School, which is not far the tank farms,  were quickly evacuated.   Panic stricken parents, whose lads could not make their way home, were also seen hurrying to leave the vicinity.

When Vanguard visited the scene, the cloud was covered with a ball of tick dark smoke emanating from the bottom of a silver colored oil tank.  Staffs of the oil firms were seen trying to put off the fire with both water and fire extinguisher.

An eyewitness who craved for anonymity hinted Vanguard that, the affected tank was empty; he explained that the inferno would have gone worst the tank was not empty.

According to him “I work in this place,   I don’t think this welding in an environment like this is right, this is an oil  tank farm and  we also store large amount of high inflammable petroleum products flue and yet they still allow these welders to work in this premises.  If   that thank wasn’t empty only God knows the would have happened.