What would have been a major tragedy was averted in Lagos on Friday when a taxi cab driven by a middle-aged man went up in flames on Oba Akran bridge, Ikeja.
Luckily, the taxi driver escaped unhurt while the ever-busy road was less busy when the incident occurred, it was gathered.
The yellow taxi with Lagos registration JJJ 323 XK was burnt out around 3pm before the arrival of men of the Fire Service who eventually put up the fire.
The incident also worsened traffic on the road up to the popular Ikeja under bridge.
It was gathered that the driver of the vehicle escaped by providence as he did not know that smoke was coming out from the vehicle until another motorist called his attention to it.
Eyewitness account revealed that immediately he was informed, he parked the vehicle and rushed out to open trunk of the car where he kept some jerry cans containing petroleum.
An eyewitness said, "He immediately came down to open the trunk of the vehicle which contained some jerry cans of petrol. He was able to take out the jerry cans. But I am not sure whether the fire was caused by the petrol or not."
As at the time of filing this report, the charred remains of the car was being cleared by officials of the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA).
Another eyewitness said many other vehicles would have caught fire if the incident had happened in the morning when the bridge is always filled up with vehicles.
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