Tenant Dies As Fire Caused By Candle Guts Two-storey Building In Lagos

A tenant was burnt to death yesterday while a landlord’s son was injured during a morning inferno, which gutted a house at the Somolu area of Lagos State. The fire, which ravaged a storey-building, started about 1a.m. from the first floor, where the landlord’s son’s apartment is located.

The landlord’s son, Abiola, was said to have lit a candle and fell asleep. Unfortunately, the candle fell on the rug in his apartment.

The rug caught fire which spread to other apartments. The tenant, identified simply as Al-Wajud, was said to be drunk before going to bed and thus, was deep in his sleep when the fire started. He died before he could be rushed to the hospital.

The incident, which happened at House 4, Akinrinlo Street, threw occupants and members of the community into mourning.

One of the victims, who identified himself simply as Adebolawe, said: “We were sleeping about 1a.m. when we heard a loud sound from the roof of the building. “Immediately we heard the sound, every tenant in the house rushed out only to see flame on the roof of the building.

We started running around, looking for water to put out the fire. While we were looking for water, my wife was struggling to rescue the children and to savage some of our property. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring out anything. Fire consumed everything.”

Another victim, Mr. Akeem Ismaila, said: “The fire destroyed all I have laboured for in life. It was a terrible situation; right now, I don’t know where to start from.

Even my wife’s money, which she was supposed to use to stock her shop, was burnt to ashes. My children wouldn’t be able to go to school as their uniform and school materials were all burnt.

“Government should come to our aid. This is not the first time the building would go up in flames; two years ago, the building caught fire but was later rebuilt. This is another fire.” Firefighters were said to have arrived the scene about 3a.m., after the fire had burnt down the whole building