MORE than 109 shops and residential buildings belonging to the Bayelsa State government in Ijora area of Lagos was on Sunday night gutted by fire. The raging inferno, The Guardian learnt started from one of the shops housing black oil at the 7up area of Ijora.
According to an eyewitness, seven persons suffered varied degrees of injuries as a result of the inferno.
The South-West Zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Maintenance Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the incident yesterday, said one of the affected people with serious burns was rescued and taken to the hospital.
He said: “About 109 shops and residential buildings were consumed in the fire outbreak at the scene, located in an open space belonging to the Bayelsa State government besides the 7up Bottling Company, Ijora.
“The fire started from a shop filled with drums of black oil. People are also using the space as residence.” He added.
It would be recalled that two people were in January burnt to death in an early morning fire that ravaged about 10 buildings, including a brothel in Ijora.
The inferno also destroyed properties worth millions of Naira.
