15th January, 2013
There was pandemonium Tuesday when fire gutted Mr Price, a shop inside the multi-billion Ikeja City Mall, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The mall houses Shoprite, which is the biggest in the mall, and about 100 other shops.
The fire started around 11.00 a.m. from an electrical spark inside Mr. Price, a clothes retail outlet in the mall, said an official of the Civil Defence Corps, who craved anonymity.
The over 100 shops in the mall were shut as a result of the fire while workers and customers scampered to safety.
For about four hours, workers and customers were locked out of the mall by security operatives, while policemen prevented people from getting close.
Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, said “the fire outbreak at Ikeja City Mall has been put out. No casualty was recorded. The fire only affected a store called Mr. Price.”
Operations Manager, Mr. Price, Steve Idornigie, confirmed that the fire started around 11.00 a.m., saying that it was the store manager who alerted everyone about the fire outbreak.
“Fire extinguishers were used to try to put out the fire. The Lagos State Fire Service, NEMA, Civil Defence and the police were on ground.
“Immediately the fire started, we quickly evacuated everybody in the mall and codorned off the area. Preliminary investigation shows that the fire started from a power point, that is, it is an electrical fire,” he said.
Idornigie stated that no clothing was burnt by the fire as it was put out on time, adding that “there are security people on ground, no one was injured, no stampede. It was a coordinated evacuation.”
Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razak Fadipe said the fire emanated from an electrical fault inside Mr. Price and that the fire was put out on time as his men responded promptly.
Thousands of customers and workers were seen outside the mall, while anxiously waiting to gain entrance after the fire had been put out.
By Kazeem Ugbodaga