Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: LASEMA

  • Balogun high‑rise inferno: China‑returnee confirmed among victims as rescue winds down

    Balogun high‑rise inferno: China‑returnee confirmed among victims as rescue winds down

    Photo Credit: The Punch
    2025-12-28 09:00:00

    From PUNCH reports, emergency responders confirmed that three bodies—including a China-based trader—were recovered from the rubble of the fire-ravaged Great Nigeria Insurance House near Balogun Market, Lagos Island.

    Officials said the blaze, which started on upper floors of the high-rise commercial building, escalated into a complex rescue-and-recovery operation involving multiple agencies working amid structural risks.

    Authorities urged traders and nearby occupants to keep off the immediate area as assessments continued, while families waited for updates on missing persons.

    Premium Times reported LASEMA warning that “The fire continues to spread vertically,” while Peoples Gazette quoted officials saying teams were working “under challenging conditions because of the building’s height.”

    Echotitbits take: Lagos’ dense, older commercial corridors need stricter fire-code enforcement, warehouse-use regulation, and rapid-access equipment—especially for high-rise markets. Watch next for demolition decisions, compensation claims, and the fire-cause investigation.

    Source: The Punch — December 28, 2025 (https://punchng.com/lagos-fire-trapped-china-returnee-two-others-recovered-dead/)

    The Punch December 28, 2025
    https://punchng.com/lagos-fire-trapped-china-returnee-two-others-recovered-dead/

  • Night Fire Guts Lagos Island High-Rise, Traders Count Losses as Rescue Efforts Continue

    Night Fire Guts Lagos Island High-Rise, Traders Count Losses as Rescue Efforts Continue

    Photo Credit: The Punch
    2025-12-26 06:10:00

    Reporting by *PUNCH* indicates that a major blaze at the Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) House area on Lagos Island triggered panic among traders and residents, with emergency responders battling the flames and attempting to secure adjoining structures.

    Witness accounts described a chaotic scramble as shop owners tried to salvage goods, while authorities moved to cordon off streets and restrict movement around the incident zone.

    Beyond the immediate human-safety concerns, the disruption hit Christmas-period commerce, forcing nearby markets and shops to suspend activity and deepening losses for small businesses already strained by costs and weak demand.

    Officials are expected to provide fuller incident reports on suspected ignition points, building compliance issues, and enforcement actions to prevent a repeat.

    Channels Television reported the governor saying the 25-storey GNI building “will be demolished once the inferno is completely put out,” while *TheCable* quoted LASEMA’s update: “The fire has now been contained by the combined efforts of responders at the scene.”

    Echotitbits take: Lagos fires are increasingly becoming an economic story, not just a safety headline—inventory losses, insurance claims, and shutdown days compound hardship. Watch for transparent structural integrity assessments, accountability on fire-safety compliance, and credible relief measures for affected traders.

    Source:The Punch p — Dec 26, 2025 (https://punchng.com/lagos-fire-china-returnee-others-still-trapped-in-22-storey-building/)

  • Lagos Island High-Rise Fire Leaves Injuries, Renews Safety Questions

    Lagos Island High-Rise Fire Leaves Injuries, Renews Safety Questions

    Photo Credit: Vanguard
    2025-12-25 10:15:00

    Writing in a holiday update, Vanguard reports that a major fire outbreak tore through parts of a high-rise building on Lagos Island, leaving multiple people injured and forcing emergency services into a complex containment operation.

    The incident raised fresh concerns about fire readiness in dense commercial corridors—especially in older high-rise clusters with limited access routes for responders.

    Separately, Punch also reported the blaze and the emergency scramble around the area as responders worked to prevent spread to surrounding structures.

    In related coverage, TheCable reported that Lagos emergency officials deployed specialised response teams, underscoring how quickly such incidents can escalate in congested island districts.

    Echotitbits take: Lagos’ recurring high-rise fire episodes keep pointing to the same pressure points: building compliance, hydrant availability, access for trucks, and occupant evacuation drills. Watch for an official incident report that names the building’s compliance status, the ignition source, and whether sanctions or mandatory retrofits follow.

    Source: Vanguard — December 25, 2025 (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/fire-razes-parts-of-25-storey-building-on-lagos-island/)

    Vanguard 2025-12-25

  • How Gas Tanker Explosion Critically Injures 16 Persons in Lagos

    How Gas Tanker Explosion Critically Injures 16 Persons in Lagos

    At least 16 persons are critically injured in a gas tanker explosion that occurred in the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos on Thursday.

    The accident, which also left scores of building and cars destroyed, was confirmed by the Director-General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, who spoke to Channels Television.

    Oke-Osanyintolu said efforts are being made by his men to put out the resulting fire from the explosion with support from the Lagos State Fire Service, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

    While narrating the ugly incident to Channels Television, LASEMA’s Director of Operations, Engr Olatunde Akinsanya said the 16 injured persons have been taken to the Iju Water Works clinic.

    Akinsanya said an unknown truck conveying gasoline had a lone accident and exploded at about 3:30pm.

    The tanker was supposed to off load its content at a gas station, but the station’s owner reportedly refused to allow him because a seal had been broken, indicating that the content had been tampered with.

    Enraged by the refusal of the station manager to off load the content in his tanker, the driver moved out of the premises.

    A few meters away from the gas station, the front tire of the tanker burst and the gear box struck the ground causing a spark which led to an explosion when it came in contact with gas that was leaking from the tanker.

    The vehicle ended in a ditch, where a second explosion erupted.

    READ ALSO:

    LASEMA averts explosion, recovers burning 46,000-litre full fuel tanker Intact

    Eyewitnesses told Channels Television that the second explosion sent the tanker flying and destroying buildings in its path, including a church.

    The impact of the explosion spread about 300 radii from the scene of the incident, the LASEMA official said.

    It was not yet clear at the time of reporting this story whether the driver of the tanker was still alive as he seemed to have sustained third-degree burns.

    In a statement obtained from the emergency agency’s Twitter page by Echotitbits, LASEMA said: “The impact of the explosion led to fire on adjoining buildings and several vehicles burnt,” the agency said. “Several persons were injured and have been taken to the nearest hospital for treatment”.

    Channels Television

  • LASEMA averts explosion, recovers burning 46,000-litre full fuel tanker Intact

    LASEMA averts explosion, recovers burning 46,000-litre full fuel tanker Intact

    The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says it has successfully extinguished fire which gutted an oil tanker at the Secretariat Bus Stop, Ikeja in the early hours of today.

    In a statement by the agency’s Director General, Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyitolu, on Saturday LASEMA’s Response Team responded to the distress call at 1:17am and recovered the tanker, which was fully loaded to capacity of 46,000 litres of fuel intact.

    Osanyitolu noted that the incident recorded no loss of lives, nor injuries, while the over two-hour operation lasted in the battle against the burning truckhead in order to curtail the fire and stop a highly probable explosion.

    “While the LASEMA Response Team successfully recovered the gutted Petrol Oil Tanker without any human loss, the feat was achieved without further loss of properties nor damages, with the full content of 46, 000 litres of fuel salvaged intact, at the Secretariat Bus Stop through deployment of its heavy duty equipment, the Super Metro and support of men of the Lagos State Fire Services and other stakeholders”, he said.

    The LASEMA DG added that the remains of the gutted oil tanker was safely recovered off the road to avoid any secondary incident, while also restoring the road to normalcy for vehicular activities.

    Photos: