The owner of the petrol tanker, that sparked last month’s inferno, on Otedola Bridge, Lagos, has been arrested by the police.
No fewer than nine people lost their lives in the incident which also got dozens of vehicles burnt.
Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Chile Oti, said the truck owner was arrested in Kano on Thursday.
The suspect is said to be helping the police locate the driver of the ill-fated truck.
In a related development, the state government announced yesterday, that the DNA forensic examination it conducted to ascertain the identities of the victims are ready.
Health Commissioner, Jide Idris, said that nine bodies of the victims were successfully matched to nine families out of the 11 families that showed up at the Lagos State DNA & Forensic Center (LSD&FC).
He said the bodies “are now ready to be handed over to the rightful families for necessary burial arrangements.”
Collection of the remains will commence from 10.00am today at the Seminar Room of the Pathology and Forensic Medicine Department of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, the commissioner said.
“This is the first time that unidentifiable victims of a mass disaster have been successfully identified locally (in Nigeria) using DNA technology.
“The Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Center completed this identification process in less than four weeks after the incident as against over 6 months when the practice was to take samples abroad for analysis,” he added.
Idris reiterated that the medical care of those injured is still ongoing at the hospitals at the expense of the state government.
“I also wish to note that rigorous effort was made in ensuring that errors are reduced to the barest minimum in order not to compound the agony already being experienced by the bereaved families,” said Idris.
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