Fire guts building in popular Balogun Market in Lagos

A five storey building in a section of the popular Balogun Market in Lagos Island, has been gutted by fire on Tuesday with goods and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.

Though the cause of the fire has not been ascertained, nor any human casualties known, eye witnesses said the fire incident threw the market and the environment into panic as fire fighters, traders and customers battled to put it under control.

It was learnt that the inferno started at about 8am from the 32 Balogun Plaza, where ladies shoes dealers occupy.

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The prompt arrival of the Lagos State emergency responders including Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and men of the Nigeria Police and a couple of other security was said to have rescued the situation and prevented hoodlums from taking advantage of the inferno to loot the shops.

The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, in a brief statement after the fire had been put out, said the situation had been brought under control as at 10.30 am.

”The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service is currently attending to a fire outbreak at the famous Balogun Market which involved the topmost floor of a five storey building.

“The Fire is however under control as mitigation is on to limit its spread,” Adeseye said.

The fire incident is the third in as many months after similar incidents occurred in January and February in the same Balogun Market where shops were burnt and properties lost.