A 52-year-old man has lost his life in a tragic late-night fire that destroyed a short-let apartment building along Coca-Cola Road in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.
The incident occurred late Thursday night in the Lafia Hotel area. The Kwara State Fire Service confirmed that the affected property was heavily gutted by the inferno before it could be contained.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, issued a statement on Friday detailing the operational response to the emergency.
“The Kwara State Fire Service responded to a fire outbreak at Lafia Hotel, Coca-Cola Road, Ilorin, at about 23:38hrs on Thursday. It was an apartment used for short-let purposes, not a residential building. The building consists of two flats with three bedrooms each, and all the rooms were affected by the fire,” Adekunle stated.
The spokesman explained that the structure was completely filled with dense smoke at the time of the outbreak, making it extremely difficult for the occupants to escape to safety.
“Tragically, one life was lost in the incident; an unidentified male, estimated to be about 52 years of age,” the PRO noted.
Providing details on the suspected cause of the deadly blaze, Adekunle linked the incident to an electrical issue.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was attributed to a power surge, as the outbreak reportedly occurred immediately after power supply was restored, leading to rapid fire spread across the building,” the agency explained.
Firefighters reportedly arrived promptly at the scene and deployed three fire appliances to bring the blaze under control within minutes. They also received additional operational support from the Federal Fire Service.
Following the tragic incident, the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, expressed deep concern over the loss of life and strongly urged property owners, particularly those operating short-let apartments, to prioritize electrical safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.
