Students count losses as fire guts LUTH hostel

Following the fire that broke out in a hostel in the College of
Medicine, University of Lagos last week, some of students said they
suffered heavy loses.

PUNCH Metro learnt that two rooms - 237 and 238 - in the Block II
Hostel were engulfed by the fire, whose cause had yet to be known.

It was learnt that the fire started around 12.30pm on Monday when most
students had gone to attend classes.

PUNCH correspondent gathered that it took the intervention of some
students in the neigbouring rooms to put out the flame before
operatives of the state fire service surfaced.

During a visit to the hostel,PUNCH Metro observed that one of the
rooms was locked while the other room was full of remnants of burnt
clothes, trolley and books.

Two of the victims who spoke with correspondents said they lost items
ranging from certificates, textbooks and clothes to money and
laboratory items.

One of them, Abdullahi Abdulrasaq, said "My primary and secondary
school certificates, clothes, textbooks and a sum of N4,000 were
burnt. I was receiving a lecture when the incident happened."

Another victim, Femi Raphael, said if not for his friends, all his
documents would have been completely razed.

He said, "My friends who were around helped me to recover my bag where
my clothes and other documents were packed. My certificates were
almost burnt; all my clothes and books in the room also got spoilt."

A student, who pleaded anonymity, said the fire was caused by an electric surge.

"It was the poor state of electric connections in some rooms that
sparked off the fire. Some students do the wiring themselves, while
some seek the service of electricians who will not use quality
materials," he said.

The College Secretary, Mr. Azeez Oladejo, said a committee had been
constituted to investigate the cause of the fire, adding that the
affected students had been relocated to other rooms in the hostel.

" Two rooms were affected, but the occupants have been moved to stay
with their colleagues for the time being. The report of the committee
will be out in two weeks' time. Meanwhile, we thank God that no life
was lost," he said.

PUNCH