Unfortunate Fire Incident at YABATECH Paralyzed Academic Activities
Fire on Wednesday razed Bakassi Hall, one of the female hostels at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.
The fire which started at 5:10am razed the hostel top floor before extending to other parts of the building.
Fire fighters from the college fire service unit arrived 30 minutes after the inferno started but ran out of water midway. The students later mobilized and tried desperately to put out the fire.
Fire fighters from University of Lagos and the Lagos Fire Service arrived at 6:00am and joined the rescue efforts but the fire raged on.
A female student simply known as Onome sustained a neck injury and has been taken to a military hospital close to the college for treatment.
The fire was finally put at about 7:30am and normalcy has returned to the school.
Meanwhile, all academic activities in YABATECH have been suspended indefinitely following Wednesday’s fire outbreak in the college.
A statement issued by one Charles Oni on behalf of the institution’s management said all examinations and lectures, scheduled for Wednesday, have been put on hold.
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The statement reads:
“Sequel to the unfortunate fire incident at the Bakassi Hostel early this morning, the management has suspended all academic activities till further notice.
“By this notice, all examinations and lectures, especially scheduled for today have been put on hold while the College attends to the exigency.
“The management regrets the misguided and outright falsehood on the social media and calls to certain radio stations that there was no water on campus to quell the fire. The truth is that firemen needed an excavator to attend to the fire, which the college provided promptly.
“Meanwhile, the Rector, Dr. Margaret Ladipo, has called on the college community to remain calm as the management finds ways to soothe the pains inflicted by the accident.”
No fewer than seven students are being treated for injuries after an early morning fire razed a female hostel at the Yaba College of Technology, Yabatech, on Wednesday.
Students of the institution took to social media expressing shock and fear that some of their colleagues may have died in the fire.
Pictures of the fire posted on social media show a section of the hostel known as Bakassi in flames, as a helpless crowd of students surround a fire truck outside the hostel.
A short video posted on Instagram shows a student that appears to be unconscious, being carried through the crowd.
Some of the students tweeting about the fire complained that the fire truck arrived without water to quench the fire.
The spokesperson of the College, Charles Oni, told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone that no student died in the fire.
He however added that five students were being treated for bruises, burnt and shock at the college’s health centre while two had been rushed to a nearby military hospital for further treatment.
“Nobody died in the fire, although some students suffered some bruises and they are being taken care of at the college medical centre; I’m just from the medical centre now and about five of them are being attended to,” he said.
“Two have been rushed to the neighbouring military hospital just behind us here.”
He said the situation was not as dire as students were narrating on social media.
“You know when there is panicking — and don’t forget that some of them are women; if you have woken up to an emergency before, you know how confusing it may be. Most of them were in shock but they are being attended to,” he said.
He said the cause of the fire was not known but that the college was going to investigate the incident to ascertain what happened.
He also said it was not true that the fire truck which came to quench the fire did not have water.
He said they waited for a while for a crane to be brought for access to the top floor of the building.
He said several rooms were affected but he could not give an exact number.
Dismissing suggestion by some student about the state of the hostel, Mr. Oni said the hostel was recently renovated before students were readmitted into it.
The director of Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, told PREMIUM TIMES firefighters were still at work.
“We are still on it. It involved a two-storey female hostel of double wings. Fire affected only the last floor. We saved the rest of the floors and other wing,” he said.
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