Sisters burnt to death in Lagos home, parents escape

October 9, 2019 10:35 AM

The two girls were killed in the fire, but their parents and another boy escaped the burning building.

A fire accident scene in Lagos (image used for illustrative purpose) [PM News]

Two sisters, Ganiat and Oyin, were killed in a fire that consumed their Lagos home on Saturday, October 5, 2019.

The victims' uncle told The Punch that the girls' parents, Tunde and Adijat, and another child escaped the fire that consumed the bungalow at No. 4 Itundesan Street, near Odoro in the Ijede area of Lagos State.

The victims' uncle, Damola Ajani, told The Punch that Tunde, an automobile mechanic, escaped through the window to push the car he brought home away from the inferno.

He said his brother took the responsibility of saving the house from further destruction as there was a gas cylinder in the car.

He said Tunde was unable to rescue the girls when he returned to the family building.

Ajani, who's a retired employee of the Lagos State Fire Service, said the children’s mother, Adijat, was able to escape from the burning house. She rescued a baby boy whom he said was not feeling fine.

He said, “As a former worker of the Lagos State Fire Service, I used my experience in the best way I could to rescue the situation. We had many constraints. We could not get any borehole nearby to fetch water to extinguish the fire.

“Some youths went to the lagoon to fetch water, which we used to extinguish the inferno before firefighters arrived.

“I called them long before they came. It is difficult to locate this place. The poor state of the roads contributed to our travail that day.

"It took them almost four hours to get to this place because of the extremely bad roads from Odoguyan to this place,” Ajani added.

Confirming the incident, the Director of Fire Service, Lagos State, Margaret Onabajo, said it was the men of the agency who extinguished the fire.

The fire started with an electric spark which set shops in front of the building ablaze and spread to other parts quickly, according to The Punch.

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