A 45-year-old man had been reportedly burnt to death at the C Close, FESTAC Town, Lagos State, after the keg of fuel he had just bought and carried in his car caught fire.
According to report, the victim bought the fuel from a filling station in the neighbourhood at about 3am on Saturday morning, driving his Peugeot 307 car home safely.
However, something is reported to have triggered a fire in the car, which engulfed the victim, made worse by the keg of fuel in the car.
Efforts by firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service to save the victim and put out the fire had been futile, with the victim getting burnt to death.
An official of the fire service, Amodu Shakiru, revealed to PUNCH Metro that no one had known the victim was in the car until his relatives had come to the scene of the incident.
Shakiru, speaking on behalf of the Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, said that, although investigations were ongoing, the agency suspects that the victim had had a lighter or lit cigarette in the car.
Shakiru said:
“We met the fire raging and we were able to stop the spread. It was after we put out the fire that his family members showed up and we all started looking for him. When he could not be found, we searched the car and found his charred remains in the vehicle.”
