Fire Razes Buildings In Lagos, Injures Many

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – Properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed in the early hours of Monday as fire razed two residential buildings at Akinremi street, off Capitol road in Agege, Lagos State.

Residents of the area posted disturbing footages of the incident on social media showing the fire spiraling high with a thick cloud of black smoke hovering over the vicinity in the early morning tragedy.

Reports indicated that many residents and passersby rushed to the scene as first responders to assist in putting out the raging fire before the arrival of Lagos State Fire Service personnel to the area.

According to eyewitness account, the fire started around the Muslims called to prayer time of 5.30 am and residents in nearby buildings were seen battling hard to save their valuables as the fire continued to spread before help could come.

Though the cause of the fire was not immediately known as at the time of going to press, one of resident hinted that it could have been triggered by storage of petroleum products in one of the buildings.

He told reporters at the scene that; “The fire started from the other building (pointing to the area) before ours. There is a woman cooking in front of that building who uses gas. In this same building some people have petrol because they sell black market. This helped the fire move fast and it entered our own building.

“Look at us now, we have nothing left. Everything is gone and many of us have been ruin by this tragedy so early in the year. How do we recover from this with hardship everywhere.”

Confirming the narrative, another resident said; “The fire started with a lady cooking in front of one the buildings”, adding that; “If she had promptly called for help, I am sure it won’t get to this.

“The people in the neighborhood tried their best before the fire fighters came. But the fire, which is still on as you can see, had already done a lot of damage.”

“It was quite a rough time for us as most people struggled to save and evacuate our properties with the fire spreading threateningly to other buildings within the area”, one other distressed resident lamented while narrating the incident to a crowd of sympathisers.