Traders at Balogun Market, in Lagos, counted their losses endlessly yesterday, as fired burnt goods and property worth millions. The market is one of the busiest and biggest in the state and it suffered a similar fate, last November 5. This is barely five days after there was a fire outbreak at another popular Amu Timber Market in Mushin, where traders also lost millions of naira worth of goods and property.
As at the time of filing this report, many traders were struggling to salvage some of their goods from fire. Daily Sun gathered that some buildings housing many shops caught fire which broke out from Anambra Plaza at Martins Street beside Great Nigeria Limited, near Leventis Bus Stop, Lagos Island around 9.00 a.m. According to witnesses, the fire further spread to adjoining buildings in the highly-congested area which later affected about seven structures.
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One of the Balogun Market leaders, Chibike Okeke faulted the claim of the Director-General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, that the fire outbreak was caused by fuel stored inappropriately in one of the stores. Okeke while reacting to the alleged claim by LASEMA boss said that nobody could currently ascertain the cause of the inferno. He said that the government official’s claim was only based on mere assumption. Oke-Osanyintolu had said that seven buildings were affected by the fire.
“On arrival at the above scene, it was discovered that a four-story plaza had been gutted by fire,”
he said.
“The cause was identified as resulting from improperly-stored fuel. The fire had escalated to adjoining buildings totaling seven in number. But it is now being contained by the emergency responders comprising Lagos State Government Fire Service, the Federal Fire Service, and NPA Fire Service.”
He assured that all responders were on ground and progress was being made to put out the raging fire and urged the traders and other members of the public to be calm. Also, the spokesperson for the agency, Mr. Nosa Okunbor, said that the swift response of the LASEMA team and the cooperation of other responders prevented the inferno from causing more damage.
Three persons, including a member of Nigeria Red Cross, a firefighter, and a trader sustained minor injuries, as a result of collapsed buildings. But no life was lost.
