A midnight fire has razed a section of Ago Medical Centre on Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos State.
The fire, which started in the evening on Friday, destroyed a section of the one storey building which houses the hospital, it was gathered.
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, disclosed this in a statement issued early Saturday, March 1.
Oke-Osanyintolu said the agency activated its emergency response plan and deployed its response team from Oshodi after receiving distress calls via the 767/112 Emergency Toll-Free Lines at 6:29 p.m. on Friday.
“Upon arrival at 18.50hrs, LASEMA’s Eagle Response Team discovered that sections of a storey building which housed a hospital were being gutted by fire at the aforementioned address,” he said.
He added that preliminary investigations by the Eagle Response Team revealed that the fire was caused by a power surge that led to a spark when public electricity was restored.
“No lives were lost nor injuries recorded due to the incident,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
He noted that the fire was being contained through collaborative efforts of the LASEMA Response Team Fire Unit and other responders, to prevent it from spreading to adjoining buildings in the area.
Emergency responders at the scene included the LASEMA Response Team, LASEMA Fire Unit, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos Neighbourhood and Security Corps, and the Nigeria Police Force.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.