Baby dies in inferno, another petrol tanker crashes
The season of fire in Lagos State
continued on Sunday morning by claiming the life of an eight-month-old
baby, identified simply as Ibukunoluwa, in the Oworonshoki area of the
state.
The incident happened less than a week
after 15 people lost their lives in an inferno caused by a fallen tanker
laden with 33,000 litres of petrol in the Kirikiri area of the state.
Our correspondent, who visited the scene
of the Sunday fire at Oke Erin Street, Oworonshoki, learnt that over 30
people were rendered homeless in the fire that lasted for over an hour.
According to residents, the fire started
around 10am after the elder sister of the deceased baby, who was
cooking noodles, forgot to put the fire out.
It was learnt that the mother of the
baby, who is an employee of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency, was
not home when the incident occurred.
A victim, who identified herself only as
Iya David, said the fire was able to spread to other rooms because many
of the occupants of the compound had gone to church.
She said, “I was in church when I
started receiving telephone calls that my house had been gutted by fire.
I quickly rushed down to the scene and saw that about six rooms were on
fire. We quickly rallied around and attempted to put out the fire but
it continued to spread.
“We moved closer and that was when we
heard the little baby crying. We saw the baby burning, but there was
nothing we could do as the fire was too intense and the roof came
crashing down.”
Our correspondent learnt that because
the houses were all made of wood and sawdust, the fire continued to
spread and the residents called on the fire service for help.
It was learnt that the state fire service deployed a truck of water in the scene from Ilupeju Fire Station.
It was learnt that by the time the fire
was put out completely, six shanties had been completely razed while
three others were damaged.
The landlord of the compound, Samuel Olaoye, said seven families were affected by the fire.
Olaoye explained that the fire started from the veranda where the baby’s sister, said to be about 12-years-old, was cooking.
He said, “I was at church when I was
called by residents. I learnt that the older sister of the baby was
cooking noodles at the veranda when the fire started. She got scared and
ran for her life and by the time she could get help, it was too late.
“The baby has been buried, while I have not seen the mother and the sister for hours.”
As of 4pm, when our correspondent left the scene, smoke was still billowing from the charred items.
Many of the victims were seen searching through the debris to salvage some of their belongings.
one of the victims said, “It is not our
wish to live in shanties, but it is because we are poor. We have nowhere
to lay our heads and we have nothing of our own. We are all going to
sleep in a church down the road today. By tomorrow, we will figure
something out.
“We however call on the state government to please save our soul.”
The General Secretary, Council of
Oworonsoki Youth Forum, Kabiawu Babajide, called on the state government
and corporate bodies to establish a fire station within the area
because of high incidences of fire in the area and its large population.
He said, “Millions of people live in
Oworonshoki and many fire incidents occur every day. Despite this, we
have no fire station. Whenever there is a fire, we have to wait for a
fire station from Ilupeju to respond. This is not adequate.
“We have written to the Ministry of Home
Affairs, but nothing has been done yet. Apart from the government, we
have written many banks and other private companies to help us achieve
this.
“Having a fire station here would not only benefit residents of Owornshoki but also motorists around Third Mainland Bridge.”
Meanwhile, another petrol tanker laden
with 33,000 litres, crashed around Ajasa Bus Stop in the Meiran area of
the state on Saturday.
The tanker driver was said to have lost control and rammed into a fully-loaded passenger bus
There was however no fire outbreak as firemen were able to cordon off the area and handle the situation.
The Director of the state fire service,
Razaq Fadipe, who confirmed the two incidents, urged members of the
public to be careful in their daily activities.
Source: The Punch
