FIRE WIPES OUT FAMILY

The incident happened on Saturday night at Ejigbo, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria.

The affected family was identified as Peter Okpara, his wife, Ebere and their baby boy. They had returned from their village in the southeast a day before they met their death in Lagos.

The fire which started at about 11:00 p.m. at 9, Ogundade street at Ejigbo engulfed the entire building and destroyed items worth millions of naira belonging to other tenants.

The fire raged till Sunday morning when P.M.NEWS visited the scene.

The cause of the fire, which lasted till the following day because the fire service officers did not show up after several calls, was not yet clear.

However, residents told P.M.NEWS that it was the generating set inside the victims’ apartment that caused the fire.

They claimed that the late Peter kept the generator inside his house which exploded and caught fire when PHCN restored electricity supply that night.

The victims were said to have been choked by smoke and could not escape.

Their charred bodies have been deposited at Isolo mortuary, while the tenants who lost their belongings have relocated.

One of the affected tenants, James Williams, told P.M.NEWS that he was at a church vigil when the fire started and he could not pick a pin from his room.

Asked what caused the fire, he said he was told that the fire started from a generator set owned by the late Peter.

He explained that the late Peter usually kept the set outside and took it into his apartment at night.

The police at Ejigbo station have visited the place. They told P.M.NEWS that investigation has commenced on the matter.

The late Okpara was a Metro taxi cab driver.