Fire (7)

Tragedy struck again yesterday as 18 persons were reportedly burnt to death, in an accident involving a truck and an 18-seater bus on the Benin-Ore-Lagos Road...



The accident reportedly occurred near Okada town, in Ovia North-east Local Government Area of Edo State when an on coming bus veered off its track,while trying to avoid bad spots, and rammed into the bus which burst into flames.

The bus, according to witnesses was travelling from Lagos to the eastern part of the country.

“We were watching helplessly as the bus was on fire with the occupants. There was no help in sight, there was nobody to help, there was nothing we could do,” said one of the witnesses.

At press time, a senior official of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) at the old Benin toll gate confirmed the incident but the commission’s spokesman, Olu Olumotomi, said he was still expecting the details of the accident.

He said his men were still at the scene evacuating the victims to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
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No fewer than five persons, including a pregnant woman, her child and husband died, while several others have been declared missing in a petrol tanker fire in Lagos yesterday. Lagos Police Command Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed five persons dead and eight persons injured.

Daily Sun learnt the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Mba’s statement reads: “Today at about 5.45a.m. a tanker with a registration number XZ 777 JJJ loaded with petroleum product suspected to be premium motor spirit was involved in a fatal accident near Fin-Niger Bus-Stop. The driver reportedly ran into a ditch under circumstances yet to be ascertained. The contents spilled on the road and it eventually went up in flames.”

He said the tanker and seven other vehicles were burnt, while five person were burnt beyond recognition and eight others sustained various degrees of burns.” Although the police put the casualty figure at five, Daily Sun learnt that more than 10 persons were consumed by the tanker fire.

Witnesses told Daily Sun that the cause of the tragedy should be traced to the tanker and another car on top speed which overtook the tanker earlier.
It was gathered that as the car suddenly moved in front of the long vehicle, the tanker driver attempted to maneuver to avoid ramming into it. In the process the tanker lost control, fell on its side, and spilled its cargo on the road.

The witnesses said the driver and conductor of the tanker tried to alert oncoming vehicles but the motorists failed to heed the warning and kept driving past.

It was gathered that the movement of the cars and mini-buses ignited the fire, leading to an explosion from the tanker.

Daily Sun gathered that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Abdullateef Junaid immediately proceeded to the scene to assist in the evacuation of the victims of the fire.

A witness who was identified as John Dickson said shortly after, the men of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Civil Defence Service Corps, Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) and sympathizers arrived they were able to rescue eight people who suffered severe burns.
As at press time, nothing was heard about those who reportedly ran towards the swamp for safey. Efforts by the police only yielded scanty results as only two persons were rescued.

Some residents and sympathizers lamented that more people went towards the swamp, but only two were rescued.
They pointed to items such as shoes, groundnuts and baked cow pea which littered the vicinity of the swamp as evidence that there were still more people in the area. Dickson told Daily Sun that, “a man and his pregnant wife and their little baby were burnt to death in the fire. Some people died inside the swamp. Some are still missing. I believe more than 10 persons were killed in the fire.”
Some of the victims were reportedly rushed to Holy Family Hospital, Satellite Town, while others were moved to the General Hospital.

In tears and anguish relatives of the deceased thronged the scene of the incident to search for their loved ones.
A relative who was identified as Achike told Daily Sun that he was sleeping in a hut on a farmland with other farmers when all of a sudden they heard a loud bang which was followed by a huge fire
Achike said: “We ran for our lives, you know the farmland is swampy. As we were running for safety, some of us fell into the swamp and we believe they are still there.”

He noted that he was able to see some of his colleagues who ran for dear life, “ but as I am talking to you, my best friend Okon is nowhere to be found. I am sure he drowned in the swamp.
Maduabuchi Okone who took an early bus from Mile-2 on his way to Republic of Benin said he managed to escape from the fire. “Our bus ran into the fire. We have to rush out from the bus. I broke my leg. So, I could not run far but other occupants of the bus ran towards the farmland. I am still surprised that when we converged to continue the journey, some of the passengers were nowhere to be found.”
Continuing, he said, the fire fighters should, as a matter of urgency assist in combing the swampy area to fish out those that were missing.

Another person who could not control his anger, Martins Okoye said he was suspecting that his wife Rose might be among the dead. “I have searched through all the hospitals the police directed me to visit but I can’t find her. I believe my wife may have been burnt beyond recognition.”

He said his wife was travelling to Badagry in an unknown vehicle but that since the incident, her phone had been switched off. “The time the incident happened coincided with the time my wife called me that she was on her way to Cotonou and that she was around Fin-Niger.
He said the government should take the issue of citizens seriously by making sure that those who were trapped in the swamp were rescued and that the identities of those who lost their lives in the fire tragedy were ascertained.

An artisan at the Dantata Bus Stop area of the Badagry-Mile 2 who was identified as Adeosun Yusuf, who was on his way to work when the incident occurred described what he saw as a waste of human lives.
Adeosun, a vulcaniser told Daily Sun that he was shocked at the spread of the fire and the way it consumed everything in its path...

“This is a bad way to start preparations for Christmas this December. I was on my way to work. I usually come out early because of people who go to work early and may have flat tyres. It was while I was just trying to set my tools of work that I heard a loud sound and when I looked up, I saw that it was a tanker carrying fuel that fell. Then, the driver and conductor got out and started making calls as I walked closer to see for myself the extent of damage.

“Within a few minutes, the tanker exploded and those of us trying to get to the scene of the accident had to run back for safety. I saw cars, buses and small trucks trying to escape the fire. The fire was so much that we were just unable to do anything.
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Sir Alan Sugar under fire over 'Nigeria insult' on The Apprentice


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He is used to handing out the criticism. But today Lord Sugar was on the receiving end as Nigeria's High Commissioner in London accused him of insulting millions of his countrymen.

In a statement, His Excellency Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida accused the Apprentice boss of making “demeaning” and “spurious” comments about the African country on his hit BBC show The Apprentice.

His Excellency accuses the peer of smearing Nigeria's reputation with an “unprovoked” and “damaging” attack based on his sordid dealings with one individual.

It comes after Lord Sugar suggested that Nigerians could not be trusted over financial promises.

During the opening episode of The Apprentice, the peer asked contestant Stuart Baggs why he should not be “fired” from the show.

Mr Baggs said: “If you give me one hundred grand a year, I will deliver to you 10 times that and if I don't — take it all back. A money back guarantee, I'm that confident”...

Lord Sugar replied: “I had an offer like that from Nigeria once and funnily enough it didn't transpire.”
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The peer gave no explanation as to whether his comment was based on a real event or a stereotyped view about Nigerians.

The BBC, which is often sensitive to such pejorative remarks, allowed the pre-recorded clip to be broadcast.

Today a statement issued on Dr Tafida's behalf said: “Lord Sugar's remark on Nigeria is preposterous and spurious for a number of reasons.

"It was an unprovoked, damaging remark on a sovereign and independent state of over 150 million people, based on his alleged sordid and isolated deal with a Nigerian individual. It is indeed demeaning and unfortunate.”

Nigeria has developed a reputation, however, as a base for “mass marketing” rackets in which organised criminals seek to cheat victims of their money by offering prizes or other incentives, which subsequently fail to materialise, in return for cash payments.

A report this year by the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group warned that the country continued “to serve as a base of operations for a wide range of mass-marketing activity.”

The 2001 census said there were nearly 90,000 Nigerian-born people living in the UK — just under 69,000 in London — and both numbers are believed to have increased significantly since.

The Hackney businessman versus the High Commissioner..

Lord Sugar started in business selling electrical goods from a van after leaving school at 16, and is now worth about £730 million. He founded Amstrad, the electrical goods firm, which he sold in 2007, and was chairman of Tottenham Hotspur for several years. The Hackney-born entrepreneur was knighted for services to business in 2000 and was last year appointed Gordon Brown's Enterprise Champion and elevated to the Lords. He also supports charities including Great Ormond Street Hospital and Jewish Care.

His Excellency Dr Dalhutu Sarki Tafida was appointed Nigeria's High Commissioner in London in 2008 after a career in medicine which included studying in Newcastle, Liverpool and the US. He was appointed chief physician to the Nigerian president between 1980 and 1983 and later served as minister of health between 1993 and 1995. He was a member of the Nigerian senate between 2003 and 2007, including a period as the Senate majority leader. He is married with nine children and his interests include playing Scrabble and table tennis.
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Bangladesh fire KILLS 114

At least 114 people were killed in a fire that razed a crowded, centuries-old Dhaka neighbourhood overnight as rescue workers scrambled on Friday to pull bodies, many charred beyond recognition, from smouldering debris.

The blaze was the worst to sweep through the Bangladeshi capital in almost four decades.

"The confirmed death toll from the fire is now 114 and may rise," Muhibul Haque, district commissioner of Dhaka, told Reuters. He said more than 40 people were being treated for burns in hospital, with 12 in critical condition.

Fuelling the flames, which some witnesses said rose up to six-storeys high, were chemicals from illegal, home-based factories in the Kayettuli neighbourhood, one of the most densely populated in Dhaka and in the heart of the city.

"It seemed like hell broke loose," said a wailing woman, looking for her daughter and son in what remained of the area, home to several multi-storey blocks and tin-roofed dwellings. Some had been turned into chemical factories despite a law banning their presence in residential areas.

"Burning chemicals from stores within or beside the living quarters spewed on the streets like lava from a volcano. There was hardly any safe place to step out," added one survivor.

Television channels put the death toll at up to 150, including a dozen people who died in hospital.

The country's police chief, Nur Mohammad, said it was difficult to give an exact casualty toll until search and rescue operations were finished, likely on Friday afternoon.

RESIDENTS TRAPPED IN BURNING BUILDINGS

Some families lost up to eight members, witnesses said, and many residents were trapped trying to rush out of buildings.

"Flames leapt up to the sixth floor of buildings. It was a huge inferno," said a Reuters witness.

The blaze, believed to have been caused by an explosion at a electrical transformer, was the worst in the capital since 1971, the fire brigade said.

"I never have had such a harrowing experience in my 40 years here," said a doctor at the burns unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, as patients crammed the corridors and sobbing relatives searched for loved ones.

Hospitals, strained by the high casualty toll, began handing back corpses to relatives able to identify them. "Some of the bodies lying in the morgue are charred beyond identification," one police officer said..

Firefighters said narrow streets and the density of the buildings hampered access and the chemicals in the area helped the fire spread quickly.

The government has ordered an investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Jahangir Kabir Nanak, State Minister for local government, said the lack of proper fire escapes in many buildings contributed to the high death toll. "We should have better planned homes and wider roads to save lives," he said.

The government declared Saturday a day of mourning and said it would pay 20,000 taka (197 pounds) towards the cost of each burial. "I have no words to console them," said Home Minister Sahara Khatun while visiting the hospital late on Thursday.

REUTERS

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This is no rumour but confirmed. Fire from the neighbouring house razed Ibori's car in his house in Victoria Island Lagos.
This incident took everybody by surprise, as Ibori aka Ogidigbogbo himself has so many problems hanging on his neck with the metropolitan police of London and Goodluck waiting for him in Naija.
The fire actually emanated from the Club neighbouring his house.

From reliable sources inside, valuables worth millions of Naira, and Ibori's personal valuables have been lost to the fire.
It is being speculated that, the fire emanated from the generator house of their neighbour.
That is the situation, for now.
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In what is looking like a war on Police stations as Armed robbers and now FIRE have declared war in their living room.

Fire fighters from the Federal and Lagos State Fire Services, who on 19 March, 2010 spent almost four hours fighting a fire at the Police Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos State, said the lack of fire prevention training by the police contributed to the fire which razed the exhibit unit, monitoring unit and surveillance section of the command.

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‘Highly ignorant’

A fire superintendent attached to the Federal Fire Service, who did not want to be named, said the police did not have fire fighting equipment within its premises. He said if the police had fire extinguishers along with fire sensors and sprinklers, the damage of the fire, which razed substantial police evidence and documents, would have being minimal.

“The Police are highly ignorant of what fire precaution is about. They didn’t even have a single fire extinguisher, no fire prevention equipment, nothing. They have never called us to put them through basic fire precaution drill. We just thank God there was no casualty because they don’t even have any first aid,” said the superintendent.

Collateral damage

Assessing the damage of the fire which started at about 11am, the federal controller of works, Ejike Mgbemena, said the fire, which burned directly below the Five Cowry Bridge linking Victoria Island and Onikan, would have some negative impact on the bridge.

“From the look of things, it looks severe,” he said. “It is likely that the fire will affect the structure of the bridge negatively. We believe it is serious. We are working with Julius Berger and in some few hours we will be placing restrictions on the bridge as precaution measures.”

Some police officers NEXT spoke with gave various accounts of the cause of the fire. While some said the fire was caused by an electrical fault, others said the fire was triggered by flame from a food vendor’s stove that caught an electrical wire close to the exhibit room.

Under investigation

However, Azubuko Udah, who is the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, which oversees Lagos and Ogun States, said the cause of the fire is still being investigated. He said the situation could have being worse if not for the intervention of the fire services with additional support from some private companies which brought their fire service trucks.

“I was just alerted of the fire as I was away at a meeting. The cause of the fire is still being investigated and I will liaise with my men to know what happened. But I thank God because it could have been worse if not for the fire service that checkmated the incident and put out the fire,” he said.

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Mbet Udoaka watched helplessly as his wife and 3week old newborn baby died in the blaze. The 37-year-old raced home from work after receiving a frantic call from his wife Helen, who said she was trapped in their flat with their three-week-old daughter Michelle. He tried to rush past police and firefighters, but they blocked his way. Instead, he stayed on the phone to Helen, 34, until she lost consciousness. Mr Udoaka’s cousin Mary said: ‘Helen was panicking, but they were on the phone to each other constantly until she was too weak to cry. He was beside himself. He so wanted to run to their rescue but was stopped.’ She added: ‘Michelle was brought out at about 8pm and taken to King’s College Hospital wearing an oxygen mask. Mbet went with her. But she was dead.‘Michelle was their first child. Everyone in the family was so pleased and they were just planning the christening. They were such a loving couple.’
lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu
Another father has told of his devastation after his wife and two children were killed in the Camberwell tower block inferno in London. Harrowing witness accounts have revealed mobile phone conversations with victims of the tragedy as they tried vainly to escape the flames. Rafael Francisquini, 31, watched helplessly as wife Dayana, 26, daughter Thais, six, and son Filipe, three, were trapped in their 11th-floor flat. He told the Sunday Mirror: "I have lost everything. They were my world, my two babies and my beautiful wife. They were my angels." Police yesterday named the three other victims as Helen Udoaka, 34, her three-week-old baby Michelle and Helen's friend, Catherine Hickman, 31. They were killed in the next-door flat. Police are treating the fire, which started in an unoccupied ninth-floor flat on Friday afternoon, as suspicious. Yolimar Caboz, 33, said she was on the phone to her friend and neighbour Ms Francisquini who had locked herself and her two children in their bathroom in a bid to survive. "Dayana told me, 'I tried to get out but the firemen told me to stay in the bathroom with the children and put wet towels on the floor'," she said. A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the advice to remain inside a bathroom with wet towels at the base of the door was standard procedure. Local MP Harriet Harman said people were "asking questions" following the tragedy at Lakanal Flats. She said: "There will have to be a thorough investigation into what caused this fire and whether the prevention was adequate. "There are many blocks with one central stairwell and questions will have to be asked about what happens when a fire breaks out." Eleven residents were discharged from hospital after treatment while one person, a firefighter, remains in hospital. His condition is not thought to be serious, however. London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Nick Collins described the blaze as "one of the most significant fires in London for some time". He added that firefighters were on the scene within five minutes but had faced "very difficult operational circumstances". Several residents said the complicated layout of the flats made the process of evacuating the building difficult. Ed Hammond, 37, an accountant who lives on the seventh floor, described the flats as "death traps". He said: "If the fire is in the central area, you would virtually have nowhere to go." Zahera Chaudry, 21, whose sister was in a first-floor flat when the blaze broke out, added: "These buildings should have been torn down years ago." Witnesses described seeing those trapped inside screaming for help as more than 100 firefighters and 18 fire engines battled the blaze. Lincent Johnson, 28, who lives across the street, said: "The people were in the windows, screaming out for help. "There was panic, there were a lot of people screaming. "It wasn't that big at first but it started to spread so quickly." Speaking at the scene, Chief Superintendent Chance said the fire is being treated as suspicious. He said officers were dealing with a "large and complex scene" and added: "The investigation is likely to take some time."
lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu
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