Disaster: A family of five die in Lagos inferno

Tragedy struck on Mosan Street, Shagari Estate, Ipaja area of Lagos State on Wednesday after a building caught fire, causing the death of five members of a family.

Fire service officials said that it was suspected that the fire, which began around 1am, was caused by a lit candle.

It was learnt that two teenagers, two female adults and one male adult were killed in the fire which lasted for hours.

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razaq Fadipe, told our correspondent that the fire would have spread to a nearby building, but for the timely intervention of fire service officials.

Fadipe said the service used thousands of litres of water to put out the fire.

He said, “Around 1.39am on Wednesday, we received a distress call that a three-bedroom building, located behind a two-bedroom house, was on fire. I deployed men from Ikotun Fire Station in the scene but due to the intensity of the flames, we had to call for back up from Agege Fire Station, which sent another truck with 10,000 litres of water.

“We were able to put out the flames and on getting into the building, we discovered the burnt corpses of two male teenagers, two female adults and one male adult. The police have recovered the corpses.”

Fadipe urged members of the public to put out candle lights and other naked lights before going to bed and to also avoid placing lit candles on wooden objects.

He also said people should form the habit of calling on the fire service immediately there was a fire as this would increase the possibility of saving lives.

When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was under investigation at Gowon Estate Police Divison.

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