6-Year-Old Burnt to Death in Lagos Fire Outbreak

Lagos - A six-year-old boy was burnt to death in a fire that engulfed a building in Iyana-Ifako area of Gbagada Lagos, on the late hours of October 29, 2013, Tuesday.

The victim, identified simply as Abbey, was said to have been sleeping when the incident occurred.

Two of his elder brothers were reportedly rescued by sympathisers. The fire affected 10 rooms in the building located at 3, Ogunde Street, off Somori, Iyana-Ifako.

The cause of the fire, which started at 9 p.m., has not been determined yet.

While occupants of the buildings scampered from their respective apartments for safety, eyewitnesses said shouts for help from some children in one of the rooms were heard.

Some of the sympathisers said to have gone for rescue mission, discovered that the door was locked.

“Their parents locked them inside and went out. Nobody knew where they went to. The door was forced opened and two of them rescued, though one of them was slightly burnt.

“It was while they got outside that the rescued children said their brother was still inside. By then the fire had engulfed the whole building and nobody could go in again,” one of the eyewitnesses narrated.

Mr. Rasaq Fadipe, the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, said fire trucks from Ilupeju and Ikeja responded to the distress call. He said the charred remains of the six-year-old boy were recovered. 

Vanguard