Several goods were destroyed on Saturday following a gas explosion that occurred at a market at Council Bus-Stop in the Idimu area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that seven lock-up shops were engulfed in the inferno.
However, some vehicles parked in a mechanic workshop close to the shops were also destroyed by the fire.
According to an eyewitness and a trader in the market, Shadia Kareem, the incident happened at about 2.15 pm when a raging fire gutted some shops.
Shadia said: “The market was full of shoppers when suddenly we heard a loud blast and within a twinkle of a ball of fire and thick black smoke took over the cloud.
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“Initially, we didn’t know what happened, we thought it was a bomb that detonated but later realised it was gas explosion.
“The first responders to the emergency were able to rescue people around and prevent the fire from spreading before the firefighters later arrived”.
In a statement released by the Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, Margaret Adeseye, disclosed that emergency call was received around 2pm, adding that the fire which resulted from leakage of a gas cylinder in use at one of the shops led to the explosion that spread to several other shops.
Adeseye said: “The incident was triggered by a gas cylinder leakage and subsequent explosion within one of the shops.
“The explosion rapidly spreading to neighboring shops numbering seven, necessitating an immediate emergency response”.
“Preliminary investigations point to negligence during the refilling of a gas cylinder as the probable cause of the incident.
“Fortunately, there are no reported casualties.”
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