About 24 hours after three siblings were burnt to death in a fire incident at Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, fire yesterday swept through Oke Arin market in Ebute Ero, near Apongbon on Lagos Island, Lagos state, leaving 16 containerised stores damaged. Thankfully, no life was lost.

In Okija, the deceased, two boys and a girl between the ages of two months to five years, were reportedly fast asleep when their apartment was engulfed in the inferno. The trio, Chimankpan Aduhuba, ‘m’ aged five, Munachimso Aduhuba, ‘m’ aged two, and Kamsiyochi Aduhuba, ‘f’ aged two months, sustained varying degrees of burns and died on the spot while property worth millions of Naira was destroyed.

However, firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service and officials of the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA) were quickly mobilised to the scene in Apongbon to put the fire, which started at about 10:00a.m. out. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at press time.

LASEMA Director General, Dr. Olufemi Oke Osanyintolu, said the fire emanated from one of the containerised stores at the market. The cause of the flames, he said, couldn’t be ascertained before it escalated to other shops.

“Efforts have been concluded to combat the inferno. The fire has been contained and Lagosians are urged to remain calm. Fire fighting operations concluded. Recovery and post fire assessment ongoing,” he said.

Acting Head of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, said the fire severely damaged three stores while eight others are slightly affected at a section of Oke Aarin Market of Ebute Ero, Lagos Island. She said: “The fire, which was alerted at 10:00a.m. was attended to by the Sari-Iganmu Fire Station of the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, LASEMA and the police.”

Adeseye added that the fire involved 11 containerised stores used to store catering materials and accessories along with other groceries.

According to the Fire Service boss, the stores went up in flame without any external aggression as the section of the market was not connected to electricity and nobody was believed to be around the scene at the time of the incident yesterday. The shops, she said, were closed for Sunday break.

Adeseye further said that efforts are ongoing to ascertain the remote cause of the fire, adding that “the immediate cause could be linked to heat generated from inappropriate stacking of goods.”