Many OAU Students Hospitalized Following Explosion from Filling Station in Ile Ife

Many students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, are now hospitalized following an explosion that rocked the Lagere axis of the town, close to the campus.

The explosion on Tuesday evening, was traced to a nearby filling station which spreads to a bank, shopping complex, offices, and a student’s hostel at Legere.

Spokesman of the Osun state fire service, Adekunle Ibrahim said the fire was from a five-ton gas cylinder behind the filling station.

President of the OAU student union government, Abbas Ojo, said apart from students who sustained injuries, properties of the students were destroyed in the hostels owned by the operators of the filling station.

Ojo who said many of the students are receiving treatment in hospitals in the town said they had shut down the filling station and two others in the area.

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But when we eventually discovered the direction where the noise came from, we were told the explosion came from a gas plant located inside the filling station.

NSCDC and Fire Service men responded to the distress call. Many people may have been injured but I can’t say immediately. The fire was huge.

When contacted, Osun NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Kehinde Adeleke, who confirmed the incident further said, A filling station located opposite a commercial bank in Lagere, Ile-Ife housing a gas station with a mini-mart caught fire at about 1702hours today Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Operatives of NSCDC Ife Central Division that swiftly arrived at the scene revealed that a gas cylinder installed inside the filling station exploded and in the process injured many people and destroyed property close to the filling station.

The men of Osun State Fire Service were called and they battled to restrict the fire with the support of NSCDC operatives and public-spirited residents.