At least ten people have died and 25 others injured after a fire broke out in a high-rise building in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Videos on social media on Tuesday showed occupants of the seven-storey Afriland Towers jumping out of the third and fourth floors when the fire started.
The victims were commercial workers who were trapped inside the building, which is host to most commercial companies and organisations in the city.
Most of the survivors suffered burns and fracture injuries while trying to escape, while others had respiratory distress from smoke inhalation.
Authorities say the occupants became disoriented due to rapid smoke spread and lack of clear evacuation guidance, and desperate occupants broke windows to jump, leading to severe trauma.
Chukwuemeka Eze, a trader who witnessed the incident, told the BBC: “It was scary, some jumped from up there, many people inside were so scared to jump down, we got a wooden ladder to assist them.”
In a statement, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (Lasema) said the fire, which lasted for hours, started in the basement of the building where electrical equipment was installed.
The agency said it suspects the cause was poor maintenance and inadequate ventilation in the inverter battery area, which caused overheating and combustion.
The statement added “there was absence of mechanical smoke extraction systems, this allowed smoke to migrate unchecked. The public address systems were not functioning and there was inadequate signage, this worsened the confusion”.
“The building was designed with sealed windows. The facility and building managers also inhaled smoke and passed out during the incident leaving no incident manager or safety warden in charge,” the statement added.
Lasema said it extinguished the fire after a couple of hours, but thick, black smoke travelled throughout the building.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu described the incident as unfortunate and commiserated with families of the deceased victims.
The Nigeria Federal Fire Service said it has launched an investigation to establish the causes of the incident, including the state of safety systems, maintenance practices and compliance with fire safety regulations. The findings will be made public, and all recommendations will be implemented, the service added.
