Chiemelie Ezeobi
As the victims of the fire outbreak in Balogun market counted their losses, another outbreak occurred at No. 44 Adebayo Street, Alapere, Ketu, also in Lagos last night.
The fire, which razed a block of flats consisting six units, also injured four persons slightly, with the fifth person sustaining severe burns.
Confirming the incident, the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu said on arrival at the scene, a block of flats consisting six units was gutted by fire.
He said: “On arrival at the scene, it was determined that there were five casualties with four treated on the scene and the fifth victim taken to hospital with severe burns.
“The cause of the fire is as yet is unknown as there was power outage, but there is speculation that it came from a gas cylinder explosion. Two units were affected while the prompt response of the fire service prevented the further spread.
“Fire is under control but we requested police back up due to miscreants hampering our rescue efforts even though we appealed for calm and restraint as we worked to contain the fire.”
Meanwhile, in a situation report provided by the agency on the Balogun Market fire, LASEMA said a total of 17 people sustained injuries while 15 were treated at the scene.
He said: “Two had to be hospitalised-a pregnant female for shock and one of our own firefighters for injuries from the collapsed building.
“A total of nine buildings were severely affected, four have already been leveled to ground zero having failed integrity tests, the remaining five will be subjected to testing; those that fail will also be demolished.
“The bulk of the fire has been curtailed while some pockets remain along with some residual sparks and the fire services continue in their efforts to fully extinguish the flames.”
