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31 March 2023
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One dies, seven injured as fire guts Lagos market
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Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed on Tuesday, 21 March 2023, when a fire broke out in a building at the popular Balogun Market in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State. The fire started at about 09h37am. The National Emergency Management Agency, in a statement, disclosed that one person died while seven were injured in the fire. It said the fire started from a five-storey building located on 32, Gbajumo Street, Lagos Island and spread to a three-storey building beside it. “One fatality was recorded with seven persons injured,” the statement read.
But the Director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, in a separate statement, said five persons were injured in the fire. The statement read in part, “The scenario which involved combustible female shoes and sandals was agog with traders salvaging their wares and bystanders trying to catch the glimpse. The usually clumsy terrain quickly became inconvenient and created an impediment for rapid fire fighting operations, which is now at dampening down of pocket of fires within the affected structures.”
“The operations without any casualty however recorded minor injuries to about five persons who were treated and discharged on the spot by the medical emergency.”
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the deceased and injured persons were evacuated by the medical team, while four persons who were alleged to have been looting wares were arrested by the police.
“The building, from the Pent floor used as a store to the 5th and 4th floors, had shown signs of falling due to the heat. Federal, state and local response agencies are on the ground. The fire was said to have started around 10:00 am. The fire also affected a three-storey building beside the five-storey building. The three-storey building was completely burnt down. The blockwork part of the five-storey building has collapsed leaving the metal part standing. 350 shops are located in the five-storey building under fire while the other building has 230 shops. One fatality was recorded with seven persons injured.”
Sources: Punching, Vanguard Nigeria
But the Director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, in a separate statement, said five persons were injured in the fire. The statement read in part, “The scenario which involved combustible female shoes and sandals was agog with traders salvaging their wares and bystanders trying to catch the glimpse. The usually clumsy terrain quickly became inconvenient and created an impediment for rapid fire fighting operations, which is now at dampening down of pocket of fires within the affected structures.”
“The operations without any casualty however recorded minor injuries to about five persons who were treated and discharged on the spot by the medical emergency.”
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the deceased and injured persons were evacuated by the medical team, while four persons who were alleged to have been looting wares were arrested by the police.
“The building, from the Pent floor used as a store to the 5th and 4th floors, had shown signs of falling due to the heat. Federal, state and local response agencies are on the ground. The fire was said to have started around 10:00 am. The fire also affected a three-storey building beside the five-storey building. The three-storey building was completely burnt down. The blockwork part of the five-storey building has collapsed leaving the metal part standing. 350 shops are located in the five-storey building under fire while the other building has 230 shops. One fatality was recorded with seven persons injured.”
Sources: Punching, Vanguard Nigeria