WAEC building fire: Seven female staff rescued

Seven female staff members of WAEC, trapped in the Yaba building fire yesterday have been rescued

Fire broke out yesterday at the headquarters of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Yaba.

A blaze was also reported at another building at Onipanu.

Seven female staff members of WAEC), trapped in their fifth- and seventh-floor offices, were rescued by officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), it was said.

LASEMA said the fire was caused by a power surge on the third floor.

“Upon arrival at the location, a section of the WAEC HQ multi-storey building was found to be on fire. Further investigations revealed that the fire started on the third floor of the 12-storey building due to a power surge.

“Seven female staff were trapped on the 5th and 7th floors and were safely evacuated due to the swift response of the Rescue team on the ground. The fire has also been put off and dampening down concluded,” LASEMA said.

The Head, National Office (HNO) of the Council, Patrick Areghan, said only two floors of the building had minimal damage.

“This morning I got a call that a part of WAEC office Yaba building was on fire. I quickly dashed down to the office and by the time I got there, the fire service people were there.

“Both the State and Federal levels and even the emergency safety people were all there. And I must say kudos to them.

“For WAEC too, we have state-of-the-art firefighting equipment and they were able to deploy all that was needed to put out the fire in record time.

“To the glory of God, nobody was injured, no life affected and no substantial damage done to the building,” Areghan said.

He said that certificates and other documents in its custody were not affected by the fire.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said no life was lost and all important documents and records were intact, following the fire incident.

“No life was lost and all important documents and records are intact,” Head of Public Affairs Department, Moyosola Adesina, said in a statement.

At Onipanu, residents battled to put out the fire at Olukemi Kayode Street.