An early morning inferno on Wednesday claimed the life of a 30-year-old woman, simply identified as Nnena, in Tudun Kauri, Lafia, Nasarawa State.
An eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the woman was burnt to death in a four-bedroom flat as a result of the fire outbreak.
The eyewitness also said that the fire, which occurred due to electric spark when Abuja Electricity Distribution Company restored power, also destroyed property worth millions of naira.
The witness noted that men of the fire service were able to rescue the parents of the deceased through the window, but could not control the fire, which consumed Nnena, said to be university graduate.
When contacted, Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, the Chief Fire Officer in the state, confirmed the incident, but said the cause of the inferno had yet to be ascertained.
Dalhatu said: “For now, we cannot say this is the immediate or remote cause of the fire.
“We are still working on that.
“A life was lost simply because they did not tell us that there were people inside.
“Anytime we go for rescue operation during fire outbreak, our first priority is to save lives.”
He appealed to residents to always put off their cooking gas before going to sleep and avoid putting petroleum products in their houses to avoid fire outbreak.
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