Independence Day fire destroys 26 shops in Lagos market
Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed after fire consumed no fewer than 26 shops in the early hours of Wednesday at the Bariga Market, Lagos State. This comes barely 24 hours after the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency held a summit to address emergencies in the state. Newsmen learnt on Wednesday from a statement by the LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, that the fire began at about 4 a.m.
He noted that upon the arrival of emergency responders, some key-clamp shops were already engulfed in flames.He continued, “Further information received at the incident scene revealed that the fire started from one of the shops and quickly spread to other shops because the key-clamp shops were supported and partitioned by wooden frameworks. “The fire was extinguished through collaborative efforts of emergency responders and was quickly contained and prevented from spreading to other parts of the market.“The incident scene was proactively managed to avoid any secondary incidents.”
The Perm Sec stated that the cause of the fire could not be ascertained as of the time of the statement.According to him, the damage report indicated that the fire affected 26 key-clamp shops within the market, with properties worth millions of naira lost to the fire. He, however, noted that no lives were lost in the incident and nobody sustained injuries.
Newsmen reported on 18 September that seven victims were confirmed dead following a fire incident at the Afriland Tower in the Lagos Island area of the state. The victims died in different hospitals across the state, where they had been rushed after being evacuated from the high-rise building. The incident was one of two separate fire outbreaks that rocked the Lagos Island Business District, leaving several others injured and goods worth millions of naira destroyed.
