A seven-month-old baby on Thursday was reportedly burnt to death in a fire incident at the Ikota Housing Estate, in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
The mother of the child had locked the child up in a room while she was cooking in the kitchen. She was said to have allegedly left the kitchen for somewhere else, when the fire broke out.
DAILY POST gathered that the residents had called officials of the Lagos State Fire Service; however, it was too late on their arrival as the building had been razed down, and the child, burnt to death.
The Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, confirming the incident, said firefighters from the Lekki Phase 2 station responded with 10,000 litres of water, although, the damage had been done on their arrival.
According to him, “the incident happened around 10am and our men from Eti-Osa went there.
“Preliminary investigation shows that the baby was locked up inside the room while the mother cooked in the kitchen where the fire started from.
Fadipe, who said the rate of fire outbreak was increasing due to the harmattan season, warned residents to be careful in handling fire.
“People should be careful at this period. Refuse burning is rampant and people have to be warned to stop the habit. We should start policing one another.
“If you see somebody packing refuse, or bags of dirt, watch how he or she will dispose it because if the person sets fire on it, there is a tendency it can lead to a fire outbreak.
“Anytime there is fire, please don’t hesitate to call the fire service. Even if you can handle it, call us just in case it gets out of hand,” the Director stated.
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