A passenger suffered severe burns on Wednesday when a commercial bus running on compressed natural gas (CNG) caught fire at Berger Bus Stop, on the Lagos-bound side of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said in a statement that its officers got the other 17 people on board, including the driver, out without injury. The bus, registration number EKY 798 YK, was travelling from the Mowe-Ibafo area towards Lagos.
The fire is the latest of several incidents involving CNG-powered vehicles in Nigeria this year. LASTMA said it caused panic among passengers and other motorists on the busy expressway.
The injured man, who was sitting at the back of the bus, was taken to the Lagos State Trauma and Emergency Centre at Toll Gate, LASTMA said. Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service officers put out the fire, and police from the Ojodu division secured the scene.
LASTMA General Manager Olalekan Bakare-Oki urged commercial transport operators, particularly those running CNG vehicles, to have their vehicles professionally inspected regularly and to maintain their gas storage and delivery systems.
In September, the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles warned motorists against unauthorised conversions after a vehicle fitted with an uncertified CNG cylinder exploded at a filling station on Airport Road in Abuja, Premium Times reported.
LASTMA has not said what caused the fire, and there has been no update on the injured passenger’s condition.
Sources: Punch (LASTMA statement); Daily Trust; Premium Times
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