One injured as fire razes 3 buildings in Lagos

BY BOSE ADELAJA

LAGOS — AN 11 year old boy was injured while property worth millions of Naira were destroyed Tuesday when fire razed three buildings at Ajegunle in Olodi-Apapa area of Lagos.

The buildings which housed a pharmacy store, boutique, transport equipment, electronic shop and a supermarket were razed after a suspected power surge from a shop in one the buildings, sparked the fire.

The 11 year old boy was said to have been knocked down by an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape from the scene when his attention was drawn to the inferno.

The incident which occurred around 3.15p.m. was said to have started from No.6 Mba Street house before it extended to two other buildings.

According to eye witness accounts, the fire was first noticed at No. 6′s electronics shop.
Neighbours and sympathisers tried in vain to put off the fire as it quickly spread to two near-by buildings.

One of the witnesses, Emeka Chinwen, said the owner of the electronic shop was not around when the fire was noticed and efforts by residents and sympathizers to put off the fire were abortive.

Another witness, Evelyn Kanayo, claimed the late arrival of officials of Lagos State Fire Services aggravated the incident as it took them almost two hours to arrive the scene, saying ‘’when they came, they did not have enough water. By the time they got adequate water, the fire has escalated and destroyed a lot of property.’’