Two siblings were killed in a fire incident at Bola Oyewo Street,
Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos State on Sunday, leaving the entire street in mourning
state. The kids were identified as Olawale Akingbesote, who is 4 and his
brother, Adesire, aged 2.
The deceased,
their elder brother and their mother were together around 9pm on Saturday. The
mother went out to buy some items in the neighbourhood after the children had
gone to sleep.
She was said to have lit a candle to illuminate the
apartment before leaving as there was power outage. While the mother was away,
the candle burnt down and consumed a table it was placed on. It later spread to
the clothes beside the table.
It was learnt that firefighters from the Lagos State Fire
Service, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and policemen
from the Iju Police Division responded to distress calls from residents, but
the two kids had died before help could come their way.
The unnamed elder brother was, however, rescued with the
support of the residents, while the fire was eventually put out.
A resident, Moshood Ibrahim, said the fire had spread to
other parts of the room before a neighbour became aware and raised the alarm.
He stated that the distraught mother and the survivor had
temporarily relocated to a relative’s house.
He said, “Their mother went out that evening to quickly get
some items on the street, but she returned late. The candle had burnt to some
level before she left home. Her thinking was that she would come back early.
“She did not put out the candle fire because she did not
want the children to sleep in a dark room. Their father was not around. Two of
the children were suffocated by the fumes, but their elder brother was rescued
and rushed to a hospital. Everybody was devastated by the incident.”
An emergency official, who spoke to Punch on condition of
anonymity, said the survivor was rescued behind the apartment door.
“He should be about eight years old. He managed to force his
way from the fire into the back of the door, where we rescued him,” he added.
The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe,
confirmed the fire and the deaths.
He said, “When we arrived at the scene, fire was still
on in the room where the kids lost their lives. The information we gathered was
that the mother went out and the father was not around as well. The two kids
were inside the room and the candle was alight. It was the candle that caused
the inferno.
“We were able to rescue one of the children and saved other
rooms from being affected by the fire. It happened around 9.30pm and our fire
station at Agege responded to the emergency.”
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