Fire yesterday razed a three-bedroom flat at Shagari Estate in Mosan Okunola Local Council Development Area in Ipaja area of Lagos, killing five members of a family, while properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.
It was gathered that the victims were asleep when the fire started around 1 am. The fire was said to have been caused by a burning candle stick.
A resident, who did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent that the victims were family members, but said he was unsure whether the head of the family was among the dead.
He said: "I don't think their father was among the victims because I know their father was outside the country but the bodies of two elderly women, one male adult, and two male teenagers were taken to the mortuary."
Some of the residents of the area, who spoke on the incident, said they could not ascertain the state of origin of the victims, but said they were from the eastern part of the country.
Confirming the incident, the Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, said his men discovered the trapped bodies of the victims during the course of fighting the fire, adding that the bodies had been handed over to the police at Ipaja.
He said: "We suspect the cause of the fire is candle stick. They might have lit candle before falling asleep because there was no light at the time the incident happened. Perhaps, the victims were killed by the smoke of the fire.
"We had to call for two trucks of 10,000 litres of water from Ikotun and Agege before we put out the fire. We were able to save other buildings around."
National Mirror
Family of five dying like that is very sad for this country Nigeria cos it's bad no one could rescue them before the fire consumed them all. Tragedy!