Our guy lasted 21 days in a UK hospital that specialized in the treatment of burns, thanks to his exceptional degree of fitness. They told us that the only part of his body that had not suffered third-degree burns was the soles of his feet, so that he was doomed from the time of the accident, really.
It just took a bit longer than usual for organ failure and pneumonia to set in and do for him, even though Management had first promised us that he would be just fine, along with telling us how badly burnt he was. I did not bother to contradict Management that time.
The person he went back to rescue lasted about four days in a local clinic. They had the picture in the paper of the Minister for Health paying a visit to what looked like a big pink and grey lump of flesh, when the Minister was dressed in street clothing, not all gowned up to prevent infection. So much for that!
The driver made it out seemingly just singed, but then dropped dead, probably from having inhaled flames. Another ex-pat had one arm all burnt up, third-degree burns again.
It was a little double-cab pick-up truck, a "ute" or a "bakkie," and one door only unlatched from the outside, so that the expat had to reach out the window into the flames to open the door that he was sat alongside of. That was Carl Souter, the guy who owned the Crocodile Club, and they were all on their way to a Hash.
Running back into an inferno wearing a tee-shirt, shorts, and tennies ... I don't think I would have done that, not for anyone, so that I would not want to say what sort of a man it took to do that. He was brave, anyway.
It was so typically Nigerian, the whole affair. A tanker full of petrol had tipped over, spilling its load. Instead of going around it, showing up late for their stupid Hash I suppose, our guy told the driver to go through the spill. The engine on the pick-up stalled in the middle of the spill then, probably from the vapors, then the driver hit the starter, and then all the petrol lit off, also catching all the villagers out there scooping up petrol with anything they had ready to hand.