Lagos State Government has revealed the cause of inferno that claimed many lives at a six-storey commercial building,
Afriland Towers, Broad Street.
The government said it was caused by a spark on inverter batteries powering light to the tower located at the basement of the building.
This was revealed by the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola along side the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, the Director-General, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye and the Director, Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS, Wuraola Makinde at a press conference yesterday.
Both Mojola and Adeseye attributed the death to smoke inhaled by the victims at the scene of incident.
Mojola said the smoke from the source of the fire spread quickly to all the floors. He dispelled insinuations that the rescue team arrived late at the scenes, adding that emergency responders responded quickly on receiving a distress call.
The DG added that the tower had adequate fire rescue equipment, exit points and alarm system, noting that the alarm was working at the time of the incident.
“People panicked, anxious to go out of the building ,while inhaling the smoke which resulted in casualties. No one died from injury from the fire,” he said.
He called on owners of highrise building in the state to continue to apply for certification of their buildings from the state government and assured of the government’s resolve to protect lives of the people
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, have in separate letters, expressed condolences to family members, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the United Bank for Africa (UBA) over the tragedy.
