At least 11 families were rendered homeless when a fire resulting from a gas explosion razed down their home in the Ojokoro area of Lagos State on Sunday.
The Lagos State Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed this to PUNCH Metro in a WhatsApp conversation on Monday.
According to Farinloye, the fire which started around 2 pm, was said to have erupted from the gas stove of one of the occupants who was frying meat in a section of the building before the cooking oil went up in flames and razed down the 14-room apartment.
Four persons including a four-year-old girl identified as Faridat Shittu, her grandfather, grandmother, and uncle were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries resulting from the impact of the fire and were receiving treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Farinloye said, “A four-year-old girl is in critical condition at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital after a cooking gas explosion ravaged the residence of her parents located at 1, Odubanwo Street. Off Olaniyi Street, Gbinrinmi in Ojokoro LCDA, Lagos.
“Three other adults, the grandfather, grandmother along with her uncle are also undergoing burn care with various degrees of burns in the incident that occurred yesterday. The grandmother who is in severe pain spoke to the NEMA team in the hospital that she was frying meat and suddenly the oil caught flame and efforts to control it got beyond their capacity leading to the explosion of the cooking gas.
“The little girl, Faridat Shittu, was sleeping in the room when the incident happened at about 1400 hours but was rescued successfully by community members and other injured victims. The whole building of 14 rooms including shops completely went down in rubble due to the intensity of the explosion thereby rendering 11 families homeless.”
PUNCH Metro reports that a plank market located in the Awori bus stop in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State was gutted by fire on Sunday destroying goods and property worth millions of naira.
According to the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, five mini buses, two pickup vans, two cars, and goods worth millions of naira were lost to the fire.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 3:00 pm on Sunday.
In a video sent to our correspondent, a significant portion of the sawmill was reduced to ashes while a small portion of the sawmill remained unaffected by the fire.
The shopkeepers attempted to save their unaffected items from the fire, while the fire departments were working to douse the flames.
The Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Ahmodu Shakiru, disclosed that the cause of the fire was due to the breaking of a high-tension power cable on a row of market stalls, which resulted in a bang and an explosion of fire.
Similarly, fire accidents were recorded in Oyo State and Kwara State respectively with many people sustaining injuries and goods destroyed.
