Tragedy Strikes Lagos: Fire Claims Four Lives, Fence Collapse Kills Two in Separate Incidents
Lagos, Nigeria – In a devastating weekend for Lagos State, no fewer than four workers were burnt beyond recognition in a fire that engulfed a lounge and bar on Baale Road, Olodi Apapa, while two others lost their lives in a separate incident involving a collapsed fence in Ejigbo.
The tragic fire, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, completely destroyed the lounge and bar, leaving nothing but charred remains. According to the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, a distress call was received at around 7:50 a.m., and police officers along with firefighters were swiftly dispatched to the scene.
“At about 7:50 a.m. on Sunday, a distress call was received at the station that around 7:45 a.m., fire gutted the lounge and bar,” Hundeyin said. Despite the firefighters’ efforts, the entire building was consumed by flames, resulting in the deaths of four yet-to-be-identified staff members. Their bodies were later moved to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) morgue in Yaba for identification.
This heartbreaking fire coincided with another fatal incident in the Ejigbo area of Lagos on Saturday. A fence at a school on Apano Street, off Nurudeen Street, collapsed during heavy rainfall, killing two people and injuring a third. The victims, identified as Amaka, 30, Etim, 38, and Emmanuel, 12, were walking home when the wall crumbled on them.
Hundeyin confirmed, “A distress call was received around 10:30 a.m. that a fence of a school at Apano Street, off Nurudeen Street, Ejigbo, collapsed on three persons. They sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Isolo General Hospital while unconscious.”
Sadly, Etim and Emmanuel were declared dead by medical personnel, while Amaka remains in critical condition and is receiving treatment at the hospital.
Authorities have launched investigations into both incidents, with safety concerns now heightened in the affected areas.