Fire razes market, houses in Lagos

 

Traders at the Jankara International Market in the Ijaye-Ojokoro area of Lagos State woke up on Monday to discover that a portion of the market had been razed by fire. Used vehicles and auto spare parts are sold in the market.

Punch reports:As the traders were mourning their losses, hundreds of people were also rendered homeless, while property worth millions of naira were destroyed in another fire outbreak at Obi Osa Street in the Itire-Ijesha area of the state.

It was learnt that the fire at the Jankara Market was caused by an electrical surge few minutes to midnight. It quickly ravaged the entire section where the incident occurred.

A trader, who identified himself simply as Steve, said due to the time of the incident, the fire had wreaked havoc before it was discovered, and by the time it was put out by fire service men, a lot of goods had been destroyed.

He said, “No fewer than 15 vehicles were destroyed, while 10 shops, where engines, gears and other spare parts were kept, were completely razed. Many of us are now in debt as the property are worth millions of naira.”

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Fadipe Idowu, confirmed the incident.

He said, “Nine different brands of vehicles and 12 lock up shops were severely damaged. The fire was prevented from spreading to other shops and vehicles in the market.”

The Obi Osa Street inferno was said to have started around 1pm on Monday. It gutted three houses.

Panicky residents were seen battling to save some of their property from the fury of the raging flame.

According to the spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, the fire was caused by an electric spark in one of the affected residential buildings.

Farinloye, however, added that despite the huge material loss, nobody died.

He said, “Our investigation reveals the fire started after an electric spark around 1pm. We got to know around 2pm and we got there soon afterwards. Although the fire did much damage and wrecked three houses, no life was lost, except for one person who was injured.”