By Christopher Oji, Lagos
Two persons died , many injured while properties including police patrol vehicle were destroyed when fire razed Providous Bank at Adeola Odeku, Lagos.
The fire was said to have emanated from the bank’s Generator room.
Among the vehicles that were destroyed was that of the Lagos State Police command security outfit, Rapid Response Squad(RRS ) which was on patrol of Adeola Odeku during the fire incident.
A Police officer said, ” Although lives were lost in the incident but our officers escaped with injuries.
Those of us who sustained injuries are responding to treatment. We were responding to a distress calls when our vehicle caught up in the fire. Our men are still on the ground. Our commander , CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, quickly sent other patrol teams to the area to avoid hoodlums to cash in on the situation and raid the bank”.
As at the time of filling this report, many emergency responders, including Fire service, Road Safety, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LATSMA) ,were on the ground.
A bank Staff who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as he was not supposed to speak with the press, said that only two persons died while about 10 people were injured, adding that the bank vault was not touched as only few rooms and vehicles were touched.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer PPRO SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said that only one person died while seven persons were injured.
He said that the fire has been put off while the police and other emergency responders were still on the ground maintaining order, adding that no police officer lost his life.