No fewer than 11 families were rendered homeless, after a fire resulting from a gas explosion razed down their homes in the Ojokoro area of Lagos State on Sunday.
Confirming this in an interview on Monday, the Lagos State Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye said a four-year-old girl is in critical condition at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital following the explosion that ravaged the residence of her parents located at 1, Odubanwo Street. Off Olaniyi Street, Gbinrinmi in Ojokoro LCDA, Lagos.
Farinloye confirmed that three other adults, the grandfather, grandmother along with her uncle are also undergoing burn care with various degrees of burns in the incident that occurred yesterday. The grandmother who is in severe pain spoke to the NEMA team in the hospital, saying she was frying meat when suddenly the oil caught flame and efforts to control it went beyond their capacity leading to the explosion of the cooking gas.
The little girl, Faridat Shittu, was sleeping in the room when the incident happened at about 2pm, but was rescued successfully by community members and other injured victims.
Farinloye also revealed that in a related development, a plank market located in the Awori bus stop in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State was gutted by fire on Sunday, destroying goods and property worth millions of naira.
Meanwhile, the Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Ahmodu Shakiru, disclosed that the cause of the fire was the breaking of a high-tension power cable on a row of market stalls, which resulted in a bang and an explosion of fire.
