PETROL STATION EXPLOSION WHICH KILLED 256 PEOPLE - LESSONS
“Thousands have died from fuel explosions, others left with permanent injuries and scars.”
LAST week, a fuel tanker loaded with 45,000 litres of petrol exploded on Mungwi Road in Lusaka, Zambia leaving victims with severe life-threatening fire injuries and burnt to rubble a minibus which was parked nearby. The thick flames, the thick dark smoke, the hopelessness, and the screaming victims were horrifying.
If this fire explosion happened in the middle of hundreds of fuel tankers which park along Buyantanshi Road waiting to offload at Tazama fuel depot, the carnage and destruction of property would have been unexplainable, and the country could have gone into national morning like what happened to Ghana in 2015.
On June 4, 2015, scores of our brothers and sisters, the old and the young took shelter at a filling station near Kwame Nkrumah interchange in down town Accra, Ghana as it was raining cats and dogs that day. They stood under the canopy, shop, and office facilities. Several areas in Accra were flooded from days of heavy rains just like we had floods in parts of Lusaka a few weeks ago.
Suddenly there was a deafening fire explosion on the wet filling station leaving over 250 people dead including petrol attendants. The facility was reduced to rubble. The catchment area for the explosion was extensive, killing and leaving several people with permanent injuries and scars. Because of the flooding, the flowing water was contaminated with fuel thereby aiding the spread of the water.
Those who escaped and the nation at large were traumatized. Ghana was shocked as the explosion made breaking news headlines on major international news channels. Soon, messages of condolences from different countries including Zambia and the Vatican City started arriving in Accra. The then President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama declared 3 days of national mourning and authorized access to $14 million of emergence funds to manage the tragedy and victims of flooding in a broader sense.
The lessons regarding this catastrophe are many. First and foremost, when industry regulators insist on certain standards, it is not because they are trying to stifle business. The nature of the industry is such that risks must be eliminated or reduced significantly and provide for risk mitigation measures. Even with all these measures, petrol station, fuel depots, refinery or fuel tanker accidents or explosions can be catastrophic when they happen.
A filling station, a fuel depot whether fixed or mobile depot such as fuel tanker is one of the most dangerous places to be at. When regulators inspect and close some filling stations for noncompliance, they are avoiding nasty consequences that can happen. We need to give them our support and not be cantankerous and prickly. Regarding certain standards, regulators must not give up.
Taking shelter at filling stations when it starts to rain happens everywhere including here in Zambia. This must be discouraged. When the fuel tanker was on fire, I saw a lot of people rushing to the scene. We must sensitize people in a language which they understand not to go near fuel related explosions. This curiosity is not just in Zambia but many African countries. Many have lost their lives due to this type of curiosity.
I have seen people smoking while at filling stations. I have seen motorists refusing to switch off vehicles while being refueled. I have buses being refueled with passengers inside. This is not just in Zambia but in many other countries where I have been to. Either there is poor safety consciousness or an “I don’t care attitude.”
From a regulator point of view, perhaps they also need to invest in thermographic cameras which use infrared to detect electricity or heat energy leakages on a filling station. They use these cameras when they go for routine inspections. They are affordable and very handy during inspections. We use them when conducting energy audits. Major depot facilities can also invest in these cameras.
Filling station explosions have killed many people and destroyed property around the world. We have had fuel related explosions in the western world, Europe, Asia and Africa. What happened in Ghana can happen anywhere. Last year there was a deadly filling station explosion in Ireland. In September 2011, there was a massive fuel related explosion in Nairobi, Kenya which engulfed a densely populated slum leaving some 75 people dead. Scores were left with severe burns and needed a lot of counselling.
Statistics of people dying from fuel related explosions are shocking. In September 2004, an oil pipeline exploded near Lagos as thieves tried to siphon fuel from it, with up to 50 people perishing in the flames. In December 2006, a gasoline pipeline ruptured by thieves exploded into a blazing inferno in a poor Nigerian neighborhood, killing at least 260 people. Another pipeline blast killed over 1,000 in southern Nigeria in 1998. Thousands have perished.
We need to constantly review our standards and implementation of the same. We need to constantly monitor for compliance. As a general public, we need to support the work of regulators and cooperate with guidelines. In all cases they ask for measures that are within reach and not what is outside this world.
When they say, “switch off your engine or do not smoke when you are on the filling station,” they are not being insensitive to your hectic schedule or appetite. They are not being spurious. They are enforcing safety laws which are for your good and the good of others and property. It is important that regulators are allowed, encouraged, and supported in their execution of duties.
As we immiserate over the fuel tanker explosion last week, we need to actively reflect and assess ourselves how we are doing in guarding against filling station fires, fuel tankers and filling station embedment in between residential houses. This is not just for the ERB alone but for all of us. When fire breaks out on a filling station, there are very few who can escape including petrol attendants, customers and office staff including the dealer himself if he or she is on site. The fire can also engulf other people in the vicinity and cause damage to property.