GOODS worth millions of naira were destroyed yesterday at the Iponri Shopping Centre, Iponri, as fire ravaged the ware point on Lagos mainland.
Eyewitnesses put the number of the affected shops at 34 but the Lagos State Fire Service said that only 16 stalls were burnt.
The cause of the fire which started around 6pm was unknown, The Nation learnt. A source, however, blamed it on power surge.
Many of the traders, who were about closing for the day, were forced to salvage some of their wares.
Those who had left were recalled by neighours.
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Fire fighters from the Sari Iganmu stormed the place to put out the fire. They were joined by men from the Ilupeju Fire Station.
Traders were reported looking for remnants of their burnt items after the fire was put out around 10pm.
Lagos State Fire Service spokesperson, Mrs. Bola Ajao, told The Nation that the Sari Iganmu Fire Station received a distress call around 7:47pm and got to the scene by 7.54.
She said 16 shops were razed out of the roll of over 30 shops.
The inferno, she said, was restricted to the 16 shops.
Mrs. Ajao said: “The fire has been put under control, while Lagos Fire fighters still on ground exercising total damping down of the inferno to ensure no ignition or outbreak of any sort from ashes or combustible materials at the scene of the incident.”
According to her, the Ilupeju fire station also complemented the Sari-Iganmu station alongside the Federal Fire Service.
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