Scores Jump To Death As Fire Guts Plaza At Balogun Market

Several people were feared dead and others injured when a six storey
plaza in the heart of the popular Balogun market in Lagos was gutted
by fire on Thursday.

The plaza is surrounded by several important businesses which included
the Union Bank, Diamond Bank and the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

It was also observed that the plaza which was being used as a
wholesale and retail outlet for shoes and bags is directly beside and
attached to Union Bank building.
Investigations revealed that the fire started at about 9:00 am and was
battled by a team of combined fire fighters from the Union Bank and
UBA before the arrival of the Lagos State Fire Service.

Some eye witnesses, who spoke said that some people who jumped out
from various floors of the burning plaza to escape the fire were
carried away dead.

Mallam Hamza Abdullahi, a trader in the market said that he saw three
dead bodies and five people who were wounded.

"People were shouting and jumping down from up stairs, I saw a woman
dead with her skull open," he said.

Mrs Florence Adewunmi, a staff of the Lagos State Ambulance Mobile
Intensive Care Service (LASAMBUS) stationed at the scene said that
some victims had been stabilized and transferred to hospital.

"There are several casualties. We got a distress call at about 10am
that there was fire outbreak at Balogun behind UBA.

"We proceeded here and learnt that they have rushed some people to
General Hospital, Lagos but we met some casualties on ground.

"The patients jumped from the second, third and fourth floor and had
fractures and various degrees of injuries.
"There were those that inhaled too much smoke so we gave some oxygen,
some Dyclofenac injection, we treated ankle dislocations, we sutured
deep cuts before carrying them to General Hospital, Lagos.

"So far, we have carried six people to hospital and discharged four
after treatment," Adewunmi said.

One of shop owners who deals on female shoes, Mr Nonso Christian, said
that he came to the plaza at 10am and met it on fire.

"I met the plaza on fire and I tried to go in to bring out my goods
but I couldn't because the fire is too much.

"My shop is on the second floor and I just re-stocked on Monday, I
don't know what to do because the second floor is still on fire," he
said.

Several other shop owners, who were wailing while watching the fire
declined comment, one of them simply said "we are sad, this hard
economy, where do I start from?''

A security man attached to Union Bank, Mr Umoru Monday told NAN that
the fire started a few minutes before the hour of 9:00 am.

"The Union Bank Fire Service came around and started pushing the fire
back so that it would not enter the bank, and later the fire fighters
from UBA came to assist them before the Lagos State Fire Service
came," Monday said.

An official of the Lagos State Fire Service carrying a cylinder on his
back into the burning plaza declined comment.

He said that senior officers of the service who could speak to press
were attacking the fire on various floors.

"I cannot tell you anything, our fire boss is up in that burning
building now and our main aim is to put the fire out. We are attacking
it on various floors," he said.
A lone Police man battled to keep spectators away while security men
of Diamond Bank situated beside Union Bank turned their customers
away.

-Vanguard