Lagos Blue Rail safe, says LAMATA after fire incident

The Lagos Metropolitan Authority (LAMATA) says it will continue with the test ride operation of the recently completed and inaugurated Lagos Blue Rail Line, after it has affirmed the safety of the mass transit line.

It said this on Tuesday in a statement which informed of a fire incident “involving an oil tanker transloading diesel into a barge on the lagoon on the outer Marina under one of the piers for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit.”

After the Blue Rail was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, it has been made available to members of the public for a trial run over a period.

The statement issued by Kolawole Ojelabi, LAMATA’s Consultant, Corporate Communication, said the fire was reportedly “ignited by a petrol-powered generator deployed to pump diesel into the barge from a tanker parked by pier 27.”

Even as it disclosed that the fire had been quenched, it said, “Preliminary test carried out by the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), shows that the pier was not affected by the fire.”

LAMATA also stated, “The Lagos State Government and Lagos Metropolitan Authority (LAMATA) wish to assure Lagosians that the Blue Line infrastructure is safe and LAMATA will indeed continue with the testing phase of the operation of the trains and civil infrastructure, with a view to educating members of the public on how to interact with the rail system.”