61-year-old retiree burnt to death in early morning fire

A 61-year-old retiree, identified as Emmanuel Adedeji, was burnt to death when fire gutted a one-storey building in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, Sunday.

The house. Vanguard gathered that the fire that engulfed the one-storey building located at 28, Aderinto Street, Ogba, started at about 9:07a.m. when many of the residents were preparing to leave home for Sunday service.

At the scene, sources said that aside the property of the retiree that were razed, others worth millions of naira were also destroyed by the inferno.

At press time, residents and emergency rescue officials were divided over the cause of the fire.

An eyewitness said that the fire emanated from the deceased’s room before spreading to other adjourning rooms.

Another resident argued that before the inferno, there was a deafening sound from the building, resulting into the inferno. The residents stated that the deceased, a lone occupant of his apartment, could not have stocked his room with explosive materials.

When Vanguard visited the scene, emergency agencies on ground were officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA; State Fire Service and policemen attached to the Pen-cinema Police State.

At the scene, an official of LASEMA told Vanguard that the recovered body has been handed over to State Environ-mental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU, for deposition at any of the morgues.

Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, said the agency responded immediately to the distress call and prevented the fire from spreading to adjourning buildings.