Scores feared dead as fire guts plaza in popular Balogun Market in Lagos

Several people were feared dead and others injured
when a six storey plaza in the heart of the popular
Balogun market in Lagos was gutted by fire on
Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports that the
plaza is surrounded by several important businesses
which included the Union Bank, Diamond Bank and the
United Bank for Africa (UBA).
NAN also observed that the plaza which was being used
as a wholesale and retail outlet for shoes and bags is
directly beside and attached to Union Bank building.
NAN investigations revealed that the fire started at
about 9:00 am and was battled by a team of combined
fire fighters from the Union Bank and UBA before the
arrival of the Lagos State Fire Service.
Some eye witnesses, who spoke to NAN, said that
some people who jumped out from various floors of the
burning plaza to escape the fire were carried away dead.
Mallam Hamza Abdullahi, a trader in the market told
NAN that he saw three dead bodies and five people who
were wounded.
“People were shouting and jumping down from up
stairs, I saw a woman dead with her skull open,“ he
said.
Mrs Florence Adewunmi, a staff of the Lagos State
Ambulance Mobile Intensive Care Service (LASAMBUS)
stationed at the scene told NAN that some victims had
been stabilized and transferred to hospital.
“There are several casualties. We got a distress call at
about 10am that there was fire outbreak at Balogun
behind UBA.
“We proceeded here and learnt that they have rushed
some people to General Hospital, Lagos but we met
some casualties on ground.
“The patients jumped from the second, third and fourth
floor and had fractures and various degrees of injuries.
“There were those that inhaled too much smoke so we
gave some oxygen, some Dyclofenac injection, we
treated ankle dislocations, we sutured deep cuts before
carrying them to General Hospital, Lagos.
“So far, we have carried six people to hospital and
discharged four after treatment,“ Adewunmi said.
One of shop owners who deals on female shoes, Mr
Nonso Christian, told NAN that he came to the plaza at
10am and met it on fire.
“I met the plaza on fire and I tried to go in to bring out
my goods but I couldn’t because the fire is too much.
“My shop is on the second floor and I just re-stocked on
Monday, I don’t know what to do because the second
floor is still on fire,“ he said.
Several other shop owners, who were wailing while
watching the fire declined comment, one of them
simply said “we are sad, this hard economy, where do I
start from?’’
A security man attached to Union Bank, Mr Umoru
Monday told NAN that the fire started a few minutes
before the hour of 9:00 am.
“The Union Bank Fire Service came around and started
pushing the fire back so that it would not enter the
bank, and later the fire fighters from UBA came to
assist them before the Lagos State Fire Service came,“
Monday told NAN.
An official of the Lagos State Fire Service carrying a
cylinder on his back into the burning plaza declined
comment.
He told NAN that senior officers of the service who
could speak to press were attacking the fire on various
floors.
“I cannot tell you anything, our fire boss is up in that
burning building now and our main aim is to put the fire
out. We are attacking it on various floors,“ he said.
NAN reports that a lone Police man battled to keep
spectators away while security men of Diamond Bank
situated beside Union Bank turned their customers
away.