4-Year-Old Girl, Grandparents In Critical Condition As Explosion Razes 3-Storey Building In Lagos

A cooking gas explosion, on Sunday, ravaged a three-storey building along Odubanwo Street, off Olaniyi Street, Gbinrinmi, in Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

Naija News learnt that a 4-year-old girl identified as Faridat Shittu and her grandparents are currently in critical condition at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and her uncle also suffered varying degrees of burns in the incident.

According to Daily Trust, the grandmother was frying meat when the oil caught fire and efforts to douse the fire failed, which led to the explosion of the cooking gas.

The little girl was reportedly sleeping in her room when the incident happened around 2pm before the fire was later put out and the victims rescued by community members.

Confirming the incident, the Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the South-West, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the building, with 14 rooms and shops, was reduced to rubble due to the intensity of the explosion, which rendered about 11 families homeless.

He added, “The landlord, Pa Femi Odubanwo Solomon, disclosed that neighbours saved him from dying in the incident as he was initially trapped. The landlord is presently squatting in a church opposite his destroyed house.”