Lagos, Nigeria — A fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon at Afriland Tower, a six-storey commercial building on Broad Street, Lagos Island, throwing the busy business district into panic and disrupting commercial activities.
According to eyewitnesses, thick smoke was first seen billowing from the basement, later identified as the inverter room, before spreading rapidly to upper floors. Occupants were forced to flee the building, with some breaking windows and climbing down ladders to escape.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that emergency teams from Ebute Elefun and Sari Iganmu stations were deployed to the scene. Nine people were rescued during the operation, five of whom were successfully resuscitated, while four others remained in critical condition.
The incident triggered chaos on Broad Street as traffic was blocked to allow fire trucks access, leaving hundreds of workers and visitors stranded.
In a statement, Afriland Properties Plc, owners of the tower, expressed regret over the incident and said preliminary findings pointed to the inverter room as the source of the fire. Meanwhile, UBA clarified that its corporate headquarters at Marina was unaffected, dispelling rumors that its main office was involved.
Lagos State Fire Service officials have since declared the blaze under control but said structural safety assessments of the tower are ongoing. Investigations are also underway to determine the full extent of the damage and whether safety standards were adequately followed.
In a twist, the chairman of the UBA Group Tony Elumelu has retracted the statement issued by the management of the UBA Group.....
Read Statement from his tweets on the official X handle:
The past few hours have been tough.
We and others lost colleagues in the fire at Afriland Towers.
As a community, we are grieving for all and doing what we can to support their families and loved ones.
I also saw the initial statement from the comms team at @UBAGroup which was put out in haste, without understanding the full gravity of what happened. This is regrettable.
The statement does not reflect how deeply saddened we are. The loss of a life is painful, all the more so when it is family and friends. We are praying for all the lives lost.
Our Group paused today to reflect and remember all who passed. They are irreplaceable and will remain in our memories always.
May their souls rest in perfect peace and may God comfort their loved ones and us all🙏🏽
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