Xmas fire destroys buildings, property in Edo

Tragedy struck on Friday when fire razed four buildings on First East Circular Road in Benin, the Edo State capital.

Fire Outbreak in Benin

It was gathered that the fire occurred at about 12:00pm, when many Christians were still attending the Christmas service in their respective places of worship.

Two residential buildings, a furniture showroom and workshop were said to have been affected.

It was learnt that the wild fire started from one of the buildings before spreading to others.

Although the cause of the disaster had yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report, some eyewitnesses account revealed that the fire might have been triggered by storage of petrol in one of the rooms or the use of heavy firecrackers.

“I suspect that somebody stored fuel or chemical. Otherwise, the fire would not have had such an impact,” an eyewitness, Mr. Ifeanyi, said.

Sympathisers thronged the scene of the incident to assist in putting out the fire.

Although no live was lost, properties valued at several millions of Naira are believed to have been destroyed in the tragedy.

One of the victims, Mr. Vincent, while lamenting his loss, said, “As I talk to you, no single thing, not even a plank was spared. The things burnt are not less than N3m. I am so surprised; I don’t really know the cause of the fire.”

Xmas fire destroys buildings, property in Edo

Breaking: Navy market on fire in Delta State

A mini market popularly known as Navy Market along refinery road in Delta State is on fire.

The fire started last night and still on at the time of filing this report.

The cause of the fire is not known at the moment

Details later.

Breaking: Navy market on fire in Delta State

Fire guts Kano school, kills seven pupils

Seven pupils of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Jogana in Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State, have been killed after one of the school hostels went up in flames.

It was learnt that 25 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the incident which happened around 8pm on Sunday and had been admitted to hospitals in the state for treatment.

However, the cause of the fire had yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

The state Deputy Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, who visited the scene of the incident, confirmed the number of casualties to journalists.

He sympathised with the families of the victims and promised that the government would offset the medical bills incurred by the injured.

Abubakar directed that the school should be closed immediately to assuage the trauma caused by the disaster and to honour the deceased.

He said, “Seven pupils were lost to the fire incident, while 25 others suffered varying degree of injuries. A technical committee will be set up soon to identify the immediate and remote causes of the fire, as well as advise the government on the best modality to repair the hostel. The school should be closed immediately to enable the students and the parents to manage the trauma of this tragic incident.”

Abubakar, who also visited the victims at the hospitals, commended residents of the community where the school is located for their assistance in putting out the inferno.

He particularly acknowledged the contributions of the companies in the area for providing firefighting equipment to extinguish the fire.

A House of Assembly member, representing Gezawa, Alhaji Isyaku Ali Danja, and the Secretary of Kano State Senior Secondary School Management Board, Alhaji Usaini Ganduje, visited the scene of the incident.

Fire guts Kano school, kills seven pupils

Breaking: Fed ministry of education on fire

There is currently a fire outbreak at the Federal Ministry of Education in the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.

It is difficult to ascertain the cause of the fire as the place and its environs are in confusion.

The fire, which was said to have started by 2pm, has affected some items at the Ministry of Education.

 

Details later…

Breaking: Fed ministry of education on fire

Fire guts Uselu market in Benin

Tragedy struck at the popular Uselu market on Ugbowo road, ‎Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, following a fire outbreak which gutted a section of the market.

Fire gut Uselu Market in Benin

It was gathered that the inferno, which started at about 8.30pm on Monday evening, razed over 50 shops cited on Osamwonyi Street, although no life was reported lost.

When our correspondent got to the scene of the incident, there was a billow from the charred remains of the burnt goods.

While some of the affected traders struggled to salvage what was left of their wares, many others were seen bemoaning the level of damage done to goods worth millions of Naira.

One of the traders, Mr. Chidera Nwakeze, explained that he recently stocked four shops with bags of rice, beans and other food items but lost everything to the inferno.

Nwakeze said, “I came to the market around 8.30pm and discovered that it was on fire. But before I could get to my shops, they had already been consumed with all my goods.”

But another victim, who declined mentioning her name, alleged conspiracy against the affected traders, many of whom she said were Igbos.

“I don’t think that the fire was caused by any electrical fault because the section which got burnt has been out of electricity supply.

“Someone must have set fire on this area of the market because it is dominated by Igbo people,” she said.

They noted that, but for the intervention of officials of the Edo State Fire Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and some soldiers in the area, the inferno would have spread to the entire market.

When contacted, an official of the Edo State Fire Service, who identified himself as Fireman Ero, told our correspondent to write officially to the service, if he wanted any information on the incident.

“You say you are a journalist? You have to write officially, if you want to get any information,” he said.

But the council chairman, Mr. Victor Enobakhare, described the incident as an act of sabotage by persons who were against the reconstruction of the market, also known as Edaiken Market.

While urging the victims to remain calm, he however, announced a donation of one million Naira to serve as a palliative to cushion the effect of the damage and promised to notify the state government on further action.

Fire guts Uselu market in Benin

Fire guts NIS headquarters

A section of the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Sauka, Abuja was destroyed by fire on Tuesday afternoon.

Federal Fire Service Public Relations Officer, Biodun Obisesan said the fire outbreak started some minutes after 12 pm.

He said the FFS in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory’s Fire Service and that of the Air Force were able to put off the fire before it could cause severe damage.

Obisesan who said the cause of the fire outbreak was still unknown, explained that no life was lost in the incident.

“The fire outbreak affected the store area where their NIS fabrics are kept,” he added.

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Fire guts NIS headquarters

Fire razes NNPC neighbour’s house in Ibadan

A building with about 100 rooms was razed at the NNPC area of Ibadan on Thursday with property worth millions of naira destroyed.

One of the occupants, Ajani Olawale, said the fire started from one of the rooms, adding that no life was lost.

“The fire began from one of the apartments in the house and before anyone could get to know about it, it has gone out of control because the owner of the apartment was not around,” he said.

He added that the house, located on Tanimowo Street, Apata in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, was crowded with occupants because of its size.

Olawale said, “This place is over-crowded, we do not know ourselves. We have over 100 rooms in this building and I must tell you, it is very difficult to identify who goes in and comes out of the house. There is no form of effective communication whatsoever.”

The prompt response of the fire fighters from the NNPC and men of the Oyo State Fire Service stopped the inferno.

Residents in the area said the house was converted from a hotel to residential building after the owner died.

Leader of the Oyo State Fire Service team, Adeleke Isiaka, said the fire started from one of the kitchens and that the situation had been brought under control. He however advised that fire incidents were always rife when the dry season approaches.

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Fire razes NNPC neighbour’s house in Ibadan

Five die in Lagos fire mishap

No fewer than five men have been confirmed dead after an early morning fire caused by vehicular collusion in Lagos.

The incident which happened at Igando, a Lagos suburb, was said to have been caused by an accident involving two trucks laden with alcoholic beverages.

Two other victims were rescued and rushed to Igando General Hospital in the disaster which also affected a mini truck and a Honda saloon car.

Confirming the incident, Lagos State Director of Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe said five bodies were recovered roasted‎ while the two survivors had burns.

‎Fadipe also disclosed that ‎the agency has responded to three other fire outbreaks at different locations in the state from 9pm on Monday to 6am Tuesday.

He stated that among the situations was an outbreak at Total Filling Station, Ile Zik, Agege, as well as that involving locked-up shops beside Great Nigeria Insurance House, Martins Street, Lagos Island, which consumed ‎six of the shops.

‎The fire service also responded to a call at Ayobo-Aiyetoro Road, Itele, caused by a petroleum tanker.

‎According to the director, rescue operations are still ongoing at the Igando, Agege and Lagos Island scenes, just as he stated that the identities of the deceased have not been identified.

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Five die in Lagos fire mishap

Tragedy as seven-year-old burnt to death in Lagos

Lagos—Tragedy struck, yesterday in Lagos, as a 7-year-old boy was burnt to death in an inferno that engulfed a two-storey building at the Lagos State Property Development Corporation Housing Estate, popularly called the Ijaiye Low Cost Housing Estate, Agege Local Government, Lagos.

Also, a storey building at 24, Glover Road, lkoyi and 42 shops at Ojodu Market, Ojodu, Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Lagos State were razed over the weekend, leaving property worth millions of Naira destroyed.

The deceased identified simply as Sulaimon, was said to be sleeping with five other members of the family at block 68, flat 5/6, of the housing estate, when the fire started.

The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, but eyewitness said that it started at about 2:20 a.m, from the victims’ apartment before spreading to other flats.

Sources said effort by the deceased, who came to spend the holiday with the family, to escape with others proved abortive, as the house was already engulfed before he woke up.

Vanguard learnt that the family, while trying to escape from the building sustained varying degrees of injury and have been admitted at the Blue Cross hospital, Ogba, Ikeja.

Confirming the development, the Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe said that was one of the distress calls they received and attended to in the state at the weekend.

Fadipe explained; “We received the distress call at about 2:20 am. And immediately the fire truck in Agege was dispersed to the scene to put out the fire.

“When we arrived at the scene, we realised that the occupants of the building were sleeping when the fire started. At this time, they were trapped. We had to break the wall to rescue them.

“We were able to rescue the family of five from the building but one of them was already dead. A boy of about seven years.

“On Saturday, there was also a fire disaster at Ikoyi. It consumed a duplex, which we were told belong to the Macaulay Family.

Fadipe said that the occupants failed to make the distress call early, resulting into a huge loss of property.

His words, “Even at the time we arrived at the scene, we would have been able to put out the raging fire quickly but due to the inflammable materials, air conditioner, refrigerators and others, we could not.

“On Friday, at 22:54 pm, there was a fire outbreak at Ojodu, where 42 shops were razed. The fire was put out by a joint team from Lagos and Ogun states fire service. Some of the traders were still in the market. This was how we got the information and we responded promptly.”

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Tragedy as seven-year-old burnt to death in Lagos

Fire guts PDP secretariat in Ekiti

The secretariat of the PDP in Ajilosun area of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, was on Tuesday gutted by fire.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident came barely five days after the governorship primaries that produced former Governor Ayo Fayose as the party’s flag bearer in the June 21 election.

Although the cause of the incident was unknown, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Victor Babayemi, confirmed  the development  to newsmen.

Babayemi, however, said the incident would be investigated.

He also said that no one had been arrested in connection with the incident.

The party’s Director of Publicity, Mr Kola Kolawole, said people with `evil minds` might be responsible for the incident.

NAN reports that the incident affected a section of the first floor of the secretariat.

An eye witness, who craved anonymity,  told NAN that the incident would have been more devastating if not for the early intervention of men of the fire service.

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Fire guts PDP secretariat in Ekiti

Fire razes Lagos market at midnight

Traders at the popular Iponri Shopping Complex in the Surulere area of Lagos State had gone home after Tuesday’s sales in anticipation of another prosperous market day.

Market fire

However, they had barely gone to bed when they were jolted with a shocker: The goods they left in their shops were up in flames.

Seventeen shops filled with goods were consumed by the fire, which reportedly started around 11.18pm, destroying goods worth millions of naira before officials of the Lagos State Fire Service (LSFS) arrived to put it out.

The LSFS’ Director, Mr Rasak Fadipe, who said the tragedy was caused by an electrical surge, added that the losses could have been more but for the intervention his men. “We battled the inferno when it was still raging. Officers at the Sari-Iganmu Fire Service Station were quickly mobilised and they came with their service tanker containing 10,000 litres of water to quell the raging inferno,” he said.

He said the intensity of the fire prompted him to mobilise more men from Ilupeju and Onikan service stations, who promptly came with 10,000 litres of water each, for the rescue efforts.

Most of the items burnt in the affected shops, he added, included power-generating sets, different types of textile materials and plastic materials, among others.

Fadipe noted that some of the electric cables in the market were ruptured, adding that he had warned the traders to get a good technician to adjust them.

The General Manager, Lagos State Management Authority (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said no life was lost in the incident.

It was a moving tale of agonies when The Nation visited the scene yesterday. Most of the victims were too embittered to talk on the incident. Shell-shocked, many simply beheld the charred remains of their wares in hopelessness.

A trader, who was identified as Mama Sikira, living a stone’s throw to the market, said: “I heard people shouting fire …fire … and running towards the market in utter confusion. And because of various interventions, the fire was put out around 9am this morning (yesterday).

Mrs Mary Ulo, a victim, said sobbing: “I sell foreign household/gift items; I just took delivery of some goods as did many other traders in this complex. Now, everything is gone. Over 17 shops were damaged, while stationery items, kitchen utensils, fabrics worth millions of naira went with this disaster.”

The Iyaloja General of the state, Chief (Mrs) Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, was visibly moved by the victims’ ill-fate. She said she would ensure that a good policy insurance is put in place and also talk to the government to look into the situation. “Only God knows how it happened; so, no human should be held responsible. This shouldn’t restrict daily activities in the market,” she added. (0)

Fire razes Lagos market at midnight