The fire, said to have occurred about noon, broke out inside the store. Witnesses said staff and customers at the centre were hurriedly evacuated from the building when the fire broke out. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained at press time. But a witness, who gave his name as Mr. Anthony Osagie, said the fire started around noon. Osagie said it was difficult to say what caused the fire, but the inferno had destroyed goods before firefighters got to the scene.
He said: “At first, there was confusion because there were too many people in the office who were trying to run for their lives before the firefighters arrived. The firefighters responded promptly when they got the information.
I think the firefighters have performed well by putting out the fire.” The Deputy Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Musbau Rasaki, said the cause of the fire could only be determined after an investigation was conducted. He said: “I got information about the fire a few minutes pass noon and we rushed down here. Initially we could not gain entry into the building because of the iron bars which we had to cut first.
This delayed efforts to put out the fire. But we are in control of the situation now.”