Family of 5 dies in fire outbreak

By Christopher Oji

A family of five was yester­day, wiped out by fire that engulfed their house in La­wanson area of Lagos.

The deceased consisting husband,wife, grandmother, a girl and an infant, perished when they were trapped by the fire.

The tragedy has thrown the entire Michael Ogun Street, Obele, Lawanson into mourning.

The charred remains of the family members have been recovered by the Po­lice from the Itire Police Station.

A police officer, who was among the recovery team, said the deceased might have died out of suffocation before the raging fire finally burnt them beyond recog­nition. The Police source said the bodies had since been deposited at the Lagos University Teaching Hospi­tal (LUTH).

A neighbour, Ojo Saheed said the fire might have started at about 12:30 a.m but was not noticed until about one hour later when the entire building was al­ready engulfed by smoke.

Ojo claimed the fire might have started from a candlelight from another neighbour’s room.

Public Relations Offi­cer (PRO) of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the South-West Region, Ibra­him Farinloye, who con­firmed the incident, said a 6 year-old boy believed to be a member of the household was rescued alive.