- Safiu Kehinde
Commuters, traders, and residents of Borad Street, Lagos Island, were all thrown into a state of panic on Tuesday as they watched in awe how occupants of Afriland plaza jumped off the building as the skyscraper catches fire.
The incident which occurred around 1:42pm on Tuesday had led to forceful evacuation of the occupants as the six-storey building engulfed in smoke.
Several videos showed first responders who were largely residents of the area climbing the building to rescue those trapped in the inferno.
As captured in one of the videos, a ladder was stretched into tone of the building’s broken glasses to aid the evacuation of the victims.
Another video showed moment some of the staff of companies with the complex jumped off the building.
While no casualty was recorded, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that the fire originated in the inverter room located in Afriland Tower’s basement.
According to service’ Director General, Ogabi Olajide, firefighters from Ebute Elefun and Sari Iganmu stations responded promptly, preventing the outbreak from escalating beyond smoke-filled floors.
More videos and posts showed trapped workers smashing the windows as the smoke engulfed the complex.
Meanwhile, as against initial reports identifying the building as the popular United Bank of Africa’s (UBA) House, the bank debunked the claims.
UBA in a statement issued yesterday clarified the affected building was not its corporate head office.
It however explained that the razed building only housed one of its branches.
“We are aware of the fire incident at a building on Broad Street, Lagos Island, which incidentally houses one of our many branches in Lagos Island.
“As against reports on online and social media, the affected building is not UBA House, Marina, the Bank’s head office.” The bank said.
While resident thought they had enough scare for the day, another shopping complex would again be razed by fire on Tuesday night, making a second catastrophe in one day.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Central Plaza in Mandillas, Marina, with several shops and good worth millions of Naira caught up in the inferno which ravaged complex till Wednesday morning.
As captured in one of the videos shared on X, the fire broke out at the top floor of the building which was claimed to be a showroom.
Subsequent videos showed the fire spreading across other floors with rows of shops getting torched by the inferno.
While traders had since began to mourn their losses, the cause of the inferno is yet to be confirmed.