Fire kills 8 in ex-minister’s home
Eight relatives died in a fire that engulfed the Abuja residence of former minister of state for education Hajiya Bintu Ibrahim Musa at about midnight on Monday.
The deceased and many others were fast asleep when the fire started in the house at Area 8 Garki, in Abuja.
Jamila Kasimu, who was among five people who survived the incident, told Daily Trust yesterday that they were sleeping in the house when they suddenly became aware they were enveloped in smoke.
Confused and frightened, the children began to shout for help
Eight relatives died in a fire that engulfed the Abuja residence of former minister of state for education Hajiya Bintu Ibrahim Musa at about midnight on Monday.
The deceased and many others were fast asleep when the fire started in the house at Area 8 Garki, in Abuja.
Jamila Kasimu, who was among five people who survived the incident, told Daily Trust yesterday that they were sleeping in the house when they suddenly became aware they were enveloped in smoke.
She said those in the house were women and children who were sleeping on the top floor of the two storey building when the fire started at about midnight.
Confused and frightened, she said, they began to shout for help, knocking on the doors of other rooms to wake up those still sleeping.
She said the minister lost two grown up daughters in the fire, one of whom died along with her two children.
Of the eight people that died, six were children - four young boys and two girls, she said.
Jamila said many relatives and friends of the family were in the house because of the wedding of one of the daughters of Hajiya Bintu, held at the weekend.
The former minister is hospitalised at a private clinic in Abuja, with severe skin burns along with another daughter.
Daily Trust gathered that neighbors came to rescue those trapped in the fire. Some escaped through windows of the second storey building because of the severity of the fire.
Jamila also said all the victims who died did not suffer severe burns but died from suffocation from inhaling too much smoke.
She noted that some of the children were still breathing when taken out of the building, only to die in hospital as a result of the effect of the choking smoke.
Jamila said the fire service was able to put out fire after midnight.
The hospital said in a statement that Hajia Binta and three other relatives “sustained inhalational injuries following a fire in their house while they were asleep.
“They are being managed and recovering,” said Dr Shibahul Hassan, chief medical director of Dr Hassan’s Hospital, where the family is hospitalised.
The hospital received the four patients in emergency at 3am early Tuesday but Hajia Binta, who served as minister of state for education in the Obasanjo administration is described as being too emotionally distraught to speak to the press, after losing eight relatives in the fire.
The hospital confirmed eight dead bodies were brought in from the site of the fire at Area Eight but were sent off by ambulance to National Hospital for autopsy to determine cause of death.
A witness said the incident was as a result of a spark from an electrical connection.
When contacted, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Federal Fire Service Mr. Obisesan Biodun, confirmed the fire outbreak which he said 8 persons lost their lives while three others were rescued and taken to the hospital.
“We received information from One Mr. Yusuf of a fire outbreak at a residential building and before we got there barely 30 minutes after fire gutted the building, a lot of damage had been done,” he said.
He said the service is investigating the incident.