Tragedy struck on Friday and Saturday in Lagos State after a 37-year-old man, Lekan Are, and a 15-year-old teenager, Olamilekan Eniola, were killed in separate fire incidents in the state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Are was burnt to death in the toilet, where he was trapped, after fire engulfed a three-storey building at Olushi, Lagos Island, while Eniola was killed in a fire incident in the Ilasamaja, Oshodi-Isolo area of the state.
Our correspondent gathered that the Lagos Island disaster started around 10pm on Friday and was caused by a power surge on the top floor of the three storey building.
A source said the fire was aggravated by the several jerrycans of fuel stored by the tenants in the building.
He said, “The fire started around 10pm. There was an electrical spark in the kitchen while the people in the house were still celebrating the Eid-el-Fitr.
“The fire was not well managed, and that made it to spread to the other floors as people started running helter-skelter.
“The fuel in many of the apartments made the fire spread quickly.”
Our correspondent was told that policemen from the Area ‘A’ Police Command, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service responded to the incident.
PUNCH Metro was told by a rescue official, who did not want to be named, that people did not know there was any casualty until during a search through the debris.
He said, “We found Are’s remains in the toilet. He was burnt to death. When we made enquires about him, all the residents denied that they know him.
“They said they did not lose any of their people and he was a stranger. But we believe they were trying to run away from prosecutions because policemen from the Lion Building were also present.”
The corpse was said to have been handed over to the police and was deposited in a mortuary in the area.
The General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Michael Akindele, said officials of the agency responded on time to put the inferno under control.
He said, “We put out the fire around 12.30am. We discovered the victim’s corpse and handed it over to the police, who later contacted the family members before it was taken to the morgue.
“Preliminary assessment shows the fire was caused by a power surge and exacerbated by jerrycans of petrol stored in the affected floors.”
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said firefighters from the Onikan and Sari Iganmu responded to the fire.
He advised residents to take precautionary measures of switching off electrical appliances whenever they were not in use and avoid storing fuel in residential buildings.
In the second incident on Temitope Street, Baale bus stop, Ilasamaja, Oshodi Isolo, Lagos State, it was gathered that several people were injured apart from Eniola who died.
A source said some policemen were chasing the driver of a Volkswagen bus, who carried some kegs of materials suspected to be chemicals.
He said when the vehicle reached the area, it had an accident, leading to the fire outbreak.
He said, “The accident involved a Volkswagen bus carrying kegs of chemicals. There were three people in the vehicle and they were coming from Ajose Street and heading towards Temitope, when the police started chasing them. When they got to Temitope Street, they had an accident and the bus went up in flames. They abandoned the vehicle and fled.”
It was learnt that while three houses were razed, four vehicles were consumed by the inferno.
PUNCH Metro learnt that LASEMA officials and firefighters from the state fire service responded to the incident.
LASEMA GM confirmed the incident, adding that seven people who sustained injuries had been treated and discharged.
Akindele said, “We got the distress call around 11.45pm. Four vehicles were burnt and three houses consumed.
“Eniola died from shock; it was not that the fire affected him. His parents live on No. 6, but the fire incident occurred on No. 19.”
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