Information reaching TheNewsGuru (TNG) has it that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Monguno Local Government area of Borno state has been razed by fire on Thursday.
Unknown number of children were said to have been burnt in the inferno.
Details Shortly…
Scores of corpses were gutted by a mysterious fire at the mortuary section of the General Hospital Enugwu -Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra.
The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the incident occurred at about 5:40 p.m. on Saturday.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, said the police command had launched investigation to unravel the cause of the fire.
“Police patrol team, led by the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of Nimo Police Division, CSP Benjamin Egu on arrival at the scene, contacted fire Service department, which later put out the fire with the help of local volunteers.
“However, the fire caused extensive damage in the building as almost all the corpses at the mortuary were burnt beyond recognition.
“The cause of the fire incident is still unknown but the case is under investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident,” Mohammed said.
An early morning inferno on Sunday destroyed goods and property worth millions of naira at a shopping complex along Lanjorin Street in Ilorin.
About 16 shops and five-room apartment were affected in the fire disaster.
A victim, Mr Akeem Oyeniyi, popularly known as Murphy, blamed the disaster on the burning of cables by scavengers that lived behind the shops.
Oyeniyi, who explained that the inferno gulped all property in the shops, asserted that the shop owners had at several times warned the scavengers against such activities.
“They live behind these shops and burn the cables to remove aluminium. We have warned them several times.
“They used to burn it in the day, but because we used to complain, they changed the time to the night when we would have closed for the day.
“Immediately they knew of the incident, they fled the place leaving us with a huge loss”, he said.
One Mr Sola Anifowose lost warehoused furniture and upholstery such as sets of cushion chairs, doors and tables, among others in the disaster.
Another victim, Mr Abayomi Owoola, popularly known as Yomex Promoter, said all his musical instruments were lost to the inferno.
“About 30 ready-made imported pairs of speakers sold at N270, 000 each, Plasma television sets, air conditioners, mixers and engines are gutted by the fire.
“Not even a pin I was able to salvage,” he said, urging both federal and the state government to provide succour for the victims.
Mrs Florence Ogundele, who operated a soft drink depot, said she had lost all her capital which was sourced from bank and cooperative loans to the inferno.
She appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency and the state Emergency Management agency to come to their aid to ameliorate the loss.
NAN correspondent who visited the scene reports that the victims were seen with some sympathisers wailing over the incident with an appeal to government, corporate bodies and individuals to assist.
Mr Akeem Hassan, Spokesman for Kwara State Fire Service, in a telephone interview, confirmed the disaster to NAN.
He said that it was a passerby that called the agency to alert it of the fire incident.
Hassan said that the service was able to put off the fire and saved it from extending to other parts of the shopping complex and some residential apartments attached to it.
He warned people to be cautious of the way they handle power and fire during this harmattan season.
Hassan also warned residents and shop owners to always put off their electrical appliances when not in use to avoid fire outbreak.
A fire outbreak last night at the Abakaliki Rice Mill Company premises located at Onuebonyi has destroyed over N50m worth of machinery and Rice products.
The fire which affected one shop was however put out by the Ebonyi State fire service before it could cause further havoc.
Though the exact cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be ascertained, some residents of the area said that the fire incident may have been caused by power surge.
They described the damage caused by the unfortunate incident as devastating.
Chairman of the Abakaliki Rice Mill Ltd, Joseph Nnunu confirmed the incident.
He said that the fire started at about 9:pm on Thursday night which attracted the attention of the leadership of the mill who were still in the office when the inferno started.
“I immediately contacted Ebonyi State fire service who rushed to the place and was able to put off the fire”, he said.
He noted that some of the valuables that were salvaged was as a result of his quick intervention and prompt response of the firefighters.
The Chairman who described the fire incident as mysterious said that the fire started from the rear of the building and took over the whole structure before it was noticed by the Security men on duty who then quickly alerted the authorities.
“When I visited the scene, I saw about 5-black stone Rice Milling machines, bags of parboiled rice and the whole roof and interior of the building completely raised”.
The owner of the shop located at 13 A Line, Mr Moses Oboh lamented the ordeal and called on the government to come to his aid.
He said he may not stand the shock and the trauma of losing up to 50 million naira at a blow.
A major fire broke out at a Government-run Hospital in the Indian Coastal City of Mumbai, killing at least two people and injuring more than 40, Police officials said.
The blaze began on the fourth floor of the Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital in the Andheri district on Monday, local media reported.
Mumbai police spokesman Manjunath Singe said the fire had been controlled but rescue operations were still underway.
“There still might be some patients trapped inside. Fire fighters and police are continuing rescue work,’’ he said.
Broadcaster NDTV reported that 10 fire engines were at the site to douse the fire.
The cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, Singe said.
NAN
At least two persons escaped death while equipment worth millions of naira was damaged after a fire incident at the old head office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the Wuse 2 area of Abuja on Monday.
It was learnt that the fire started from the ICT department which formerly served as the newsroom.
The EFCC said in a statement by its acting spokesman, Mr. Tony Orilade, that the damage would have been worse if not for the timely arrival of men of the Federal Fire Service.
The firefighters led by the Sector Commander, Melone Onyekachi, arrived at the scene when the service was alerted to the fire by the Incident Duty Officer of the commission, Kayode Oyetunde, at 7pm .
The statement read in part, “The fire started at the former newsroom, which now serves as storage for ICT equipment that were retrieved from the commission’s former offices scattered across Abuja.
“The former newsroom is in the Costa Hall, which was inaugurated by Dr. Antonio Costa in 2007. The building currently houses the Data Centre and the Combined Inter Agency Task Force.”
When asked what could have caused the fire, Onyekachi said, “Our duty is to put out fire; that we have successfully done. There is another department that will come and ascertain the cause of the fire.”
According to the statement, two officers attached to the Combined Inter-Agency Task Force who were trapped on the second floor of the building were rescued before the fire was eventually subdued. The extent of the damage would be ascertained after stock-taking.
The Commission’s Chief Security Officer, Nasir Abdullahi, immediately after the fire was stopped, went to the Maitama Police Station to report.
Fire has gutted about 156 shops at the timber and furniture section of Nkwo Ngwa market in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia, leaving many families in grief for their losses.
Okechukwu Lawrence, Chairman of the market traders’ association, told newsmen at the market on Sunday that he was informed about the incident through phone call around 7:00 pm on Saturday.
Lawrence said he rushed to the scene immediately and he and the market’s taskforce members broke its gates to let in sympathisers to help quench the fire, using water from a borehole.
“We tried our best before the Fire Service came in. We used water from our borehole to quench the fire.
“But the hoodlums around later broke the borehole in their bid to steal our pump while the fire was raging.
“That was how I saw it yesterday. The fire was too much and it gulped millions of Naira worth of goods and property.
“We have some building material sellers in all these front shops. The second row of shops is occupied by furniture sellers and dealers in other things.
“We recorded a very big loss here but there was no loss of life or injury,” he said.
Lawrence debunked claims that his members attacked the fire service personnel who came to quench the fire.
The chairman said that it was a group of hoodlums called Aroo Boys who attacked the fire service men.
He said the Aroo Boys further entered the market, broke into shops, carried rice, stock fish, clothes and other property and left.
He further said the fire could have been stopped with the help of the fire fighters before it destroyed up to 100 shops.
According to him, this was hindered by the suspended Ozuomba road project of the State Government.
He appealed to the government to come to the aid of the traders by fixing the road and attending to other needs in the market.
The Abia Police Commissioner, Chris Ezeike who visited the scene Sunday morning, said he was there to access the incident and sympathise with the victims.
Ezeike noted that the section of the market was full of inflammable materials.
He however called for calm and peace, adding that the fire incident, which was said to have caused by a generating set, would be investigated immediately.
Capt. Awa Udonsi (rtd.), Senior Special Adviser to Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu on Security, said he had been notified about the incident and would involve the concerned ministries in the matter.
Udonsi said he would not take decisions for the governor but gave the assurance that government would “do the right thing” in the situation.
The Kano State Fire Service said fire has destroyed 77 temporary shops at Kasuwar Kurmi (‘Yan Gumama) Market in Kano.
The Spokesman of the State Fire Service, Alhaji Saidu Mohammed told News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Sunday that 70 of the shops were razed down completely.
“We received a distress call early hours of (Sunday morning) at about 07:35 a.m from one Aliyu Ibrahim that there was fire outbreak at the market.
“On receiving the information, we quickly sent some of our personnel and firefighting vehicles to the scene of the incident at about 07: 43 a.m to quench the fire so as not to affect other shops,“ he said.
The spokesman said that 70 of the shops were completely razed down while seven shops were saved due to the quick intervention of the firemen.
He advised traders at the market and other residents to be more careful and desist from using instruments capable of triggering fire as a way of guarding against future occurrence during this dry season.
Mohammed also advised the people to keep fire buckets, blankets and extinguishers that would enable them curtail the fire before calling on the fire service.
Mohammed said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Three children of same parents, their mother and another child have been burnt to death in an early morning inferno on Friday in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident, which has thrown residents of the area into mourning, also partially razed the victims bungalow.
The Chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Alhaji Sani Dododo, who was at the scene, told NAN that the man of the family, was not at home when the incident happened.
“The incident happened around 1a.m on Friday, in the house of a West African Cotton Company Limited (WACCOT) staff, Malam Umar Argungu, who was on duty on that day.
“His wife was in the house with her three children: two daughters and a boy as well as a neighbour’s daugther who was keeping them company because the husband was away,” he said.
Dododo said the incident was caused by an electric heater which unattended to in the house.
“The woman had forgotten the heater and it kept on heating till all the water had finished.
“The house caught fire, which resulted in the death of the woman, her three children and the neighbour’s daughter,” he said.
He warned residents of the state to always switch off electricity in their home before sleeping in the night, especially during the harmattan season.
Eight members of a family died after a fire believed to have been caused by an electricity malfunction broke out at a house in Northern Bangladesh, rescuers said on Thursday.
Firefighter Sirajul Islam said three people died immediately when the fire began to burn after the family went to bed on Wednesday night inside their locked one-storey tin-roofed home in Joypurhat district’s Arambagh.
He added that five others were rescued when local residents and firefighters broke open the locked gate to the home, located almost 280 kilometres north-west of the capital Dhaka.
The rescued people all later died in hospital, district police chief Rashidul Hasan said.
Four children and two women were among the deceased, he added.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
dpa/NAN