IT was one disaster too many in Lagos yesterday as man-made error brought pain, anguish and sorrow crashing down on several families.

People attempt to put out flames in Ijegun village near Lagos on the outskirts of Lagos, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Flames from a ruptured fuel pipeline swept through homes and a school in the village Thursday, killing about 100 people and injuring some 20 others, a Red Cross official said. (AP Photo)

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The tragedy, a fire out-break, which occurred at 11.00 a.m., was allegedly caused by an earth-mover grading a road in Ijegun, Ikotun in Alimosho Local Council, which ruptured a pipeline carrying fuel to a depot in Ogun State.

The incident took place at a time the global community is still reeling from natural disasters in Myammar and China, where a cyclone and a quake snuffed out thousands of lives in their prime.

Perhaps, nothing catches the horror of the incident better than the spectre of a mother who attempted to rescue her child from the inferno. She jumped into the ball of fire in which the child was caught and perished too.

Thick smoke engulfed the area and the cries of mothers wailing for their missing or dead children rent the air. A few metres from the scene of disaster and the adjoining streets, charred bodies, carcasses of vehicles and burnt houses confront a visitor to the area.

In four of the streets worst affected, dead bodies of children and adults littered the ground.

The death toll could not be ascertained at press time yesterday because the thick smoke and raging fire made access to the actual spot impossible. Many shocked but hapless residents wept uncontrollably as bodies of the victims were evacuated.

Unconfirmed reports said that the bodies of 22 pupils in one of the three schools razed by the fire had been recovered.

Witnesses said that the pupils, trapped in the heavy smoke, screamed for help until they died of suffocation.

Even some daring mothers, who heard the news and rushed to the scene to search for or rescue their children, did not come out alive. One of them allegedly died with a baby strapped to her back.

Other victims were artisans, petty traders and residents, who were caught up in the flame that spread to their houses and workplaces.

It was indeed a dark Thursday for pupils and students of Ijegun Comprehensive High School and Ijegun Nursery and Primary School as well as the residents of this area.

The construction company, which work reportedly led to the incident, was identified as Hi-Tech.

One account said about 10 people lost their lives on the spot, while others died at the General Hospitals in Ikeja, Isolo and Ijegun.

One Mr. James Oyeyola, who said he was involved in the rescue mission when the incident happened, said most of the pupils affected were as a result of the stampede caused by the explosion.

He told The Guardian that several shops and shopkeepers, including a woman selling palm wine in the area with her baby on her back, was consumed in the inferno.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Ajoke Adefalure, who hails from the area, said she had alerted the PPMC and other emergency response agencies of the incident.

Also speaking to The Guardian, Lekan Adeola, representing Alimosho Constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, who was at the scene, said the chief medical directors of the General Hospitals in Ikeja, Ijegun and Isolo were contacted and put on alert over the incident before the casualties were taken there.

The ruptured pipelines transport products from the Atlas Cove jetty of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Mosimi Depot in Sagamu in Ogun State.

The facility is managed by Pipelines Product and Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC. Speaking on the incident in a chat with The Guardian, the Head of Public Affairs of PPMC, Mr. Ralph Ugwu, said a rescue team from the company had been dispatched to the scene to put out the fire.

"The incident happened around Ijegun in Ikotun, we heard that a earth-mover constructing a road along the Isheri axis of Ijegun ruptured the pipes, which immediately burst into flames," he said.

Ugwu explained that the PPMC had suspended pumping of fuel from the Atlas Cove to Mosimi to curtail the raging fire.

"Right now, we have shut down the Atlas Cove lines and our engineers as well as fire-fighters have been mobilised to the site of the incident," Ugwu said

According to him, further pumping of products on the affected lines had been shut down pending when the situation would improve.

He stated that PPMC was not contacted before the said road construction started, adding that the affected portion being within the right-of-way of PPMC, any work on such location should have the permission or consent of the company.

According to him, the management of the company would evaluate the damage after putting out the fire and if possible take necessary legal action against the construction firm for encroaching on its right-of-way without the consent of PPMC.

Residents hurriedly closed their shops, children in schools ran for safety leaving their shoes and bags in the streets.

One of the sympathisers, Sadulai Jimoh, said: "Many children have died. In fact, you cannot even count them. Some of them were choked by the smoke, others crushed by the concrete fence of the school while some were suffocated in an attempt to rush out.

"When it started, they tried to make holes through the fence for them to escape but since some of them were already leaning on the wall, the wall collapsed on them. At least I helped to carry 10 dead bodies," he said.

Another resident said: "The place is a busy area so nobody can really say who is dead or not. This place is a sloppy place and when the fuel was flowing out of the pipe, it went towards people's homes and shops. A line of shops has been burnt. Some of the shop-owners have been burnt while some sustained various degrees of injuries."

As at 5.00 p.m. yesterday, the fire was still burning while the smoke engulfed the neighbourhood forcing many residents to vacate their homes.

The Lagos Police Command spokesperson, Mr. Frank Mba, said yesterday that the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, had deployed armed policemen to the scene to assist in the ongoing rescue operation.

He said the death toll might be high but the command was still trying to get the accurate figures.

As the fire continued raging, hundreds of residents, whose houses were close to the scene, started removing their belongings to areas perceived to be safer.

Some of the sympathisers described the incident as the worst so far witnessed in the series of pipeline disasters in the state.