Lone survivor of Lagos fire dies •Victims’ relatives cry foul

The girl being wheeled out 

Chidinma, the lone survivor of the Wednesday Lagos fire
disaster that claimed a family of seven, is dead.
The eight-year-old girl died on Thursday at the female section of
the Trauma and Burns ward of the Gbagada General Hospital,
where she was rushed to after the disaster.
PUNCH Metro had reported that seven family members lost their
lives after the fire ravaged their apartment on Michael Ogun
Street, Obele Lawanson, in the Surulere area of Lagos State.
They were said to have retired to bed on Tuesday night when a
fire, suspected to have been ignited by a candle light, engulfed
their room.
The grandma, Mrs. Anthonia Aleh, who had visited to nurse her
daughter’s newly born child, was burnt to death.
The couple, 28-year-old Kelechi Onoja and 18-year-old Nkiru,
and their two children ─ one-year-and-eight month-old Favour,
and a yet-to-be-named baby boy, were choked to death.
Two other family members ─ 12-year-old Odinaka and 13-year-
old Ukamaka ─ who followed the grandma from the village in
Enugu State, also perished in the fire.
The eighth person in the room, Chidinma, was rescued inside the
toilet by officials of the Federal Fire Service with burns injuries.
Nkiru’s elder brother, Simeon Eze, said Chidinma died on
Thursday, adding that the death ended the family’s hope of
having someone to tell the story of what truly happened.
“She died on Thursday around 6am,” Eze said.
PUNCH Metro visited the hospital and observed as her family
members waited to take her corpse at the hospital.
A relative said, “The doctor said she had 50-50 chance before. I
cannot believe that she is dead. We thought she would survive
this. Whoever is behind this will know no peace.”
Security officials were invited to calm the situation as argument
ensued between the hospital workers and the family about who
should be given the corpse.
Around 2pm, the victim was wheeled out on a stretcher and
taken to a morgue.
One of the nurses at the hospital said the victim inhaled smokes
which affected her breathing.
A relative, Jude Onuora, said the family was taking the body to
the Myyoung Barracks mortuary, where the seven other bodies
had been deposited.
He said, “The family will have a meeting and discuss how to take
them from there to the village for burial. We want the
government to investigate this; we heard it was a deliberate
act.”
A resident, Christiana Faleti, who witnessed the last moments of
Chidinma, said the victim could have been saved, but for the
slow response of the doctors at the hospital.
She said, “After she was spotted by the firefighters, we took her
to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, where she was
rejected. We later took her to a private hospital before she was
taken in an ambulance to the general hospital.”
She said at the hospital, the doctors insisted on collecting
money before starting the treatment of the victim, adding that it
was difficult to raise funds as none of the relatives had been
located.
“I had to run back to the community around 3am and started
shouting for help. People came out and we raised about
N45,000. We took the money to the hospital and that was when
the treatment started.
“I was with her at the hospital and when I saw her head swollen,
I called the attention of the doctor to it, but he said it was water
and that everything would be okay.
“Chidinma was strong. The doctors told me to hold her tightly
that the drip must not fall off; I held her as she vibrated.
Sometimes, I would call her name, and she would look at me
and calm down. She was not supposed to die; but our doctors
place more value on money than lives,” she added.
Our correspondent visited the residence of the victims and
observed that the Lagos State Building Control Agency had
already marked the house as distressed.
The community leader, Kareem Awoyemi, told PUNCH Metro , the
house was a spare part store, before it was converted to a
residential building.
He said the five self contained apartments were not well spaced
and might have contributed to the high casualty figure.
“I am calling on the government to look critically into what
transpired and led to the death of eight people in a single
apartment, while the other tenants allegedly slept on. My little
investigation showed there was always fight and disagreement
in the house,” he added.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Joe Offor, said he was not
aware of Chidinma’s death, adding that investigations had
commenced on the matter.
He said, “The Divisional Police Officer in Surulere has been on
the ground since this incident happened, and I am sure he must
have transferred the case to the State Department of Criminal
Investigation for thorough investigation. We will be thorough on
this and no efforts will be spared.”
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