Ola Akinwunmi
An inferno tore through the Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital in Lagos on Thursday afternoon, engulfing sections of the facility’s three-storey building and triggering widespread panic among patients, staff, and nearby residents.
Flames reportedly originated in the nurses’ call room on the second floor before spreading to adjacent wards, including prenatal, postnatal, and pediatric units.
Thick plumes of smoke could be seen billowing skyward as onlookers captured harrowing footage on their phones, sharing urgent appeals for help across social media.
Eyewitnesses say the fire broke out around 3:20 p.m., rapidly gaining intensity and forcing an immediate evacuation of the hospital premises.
Videos shared by Facebook user Modinat Melemuku showed black smoke pouring from windows as flames licked at the façade, prompting frantic calls to Lagos State emergency services. “Happening now at General Hospital Ifako-Ijaiye, College Road. Please repost. Help is needed,” Melemuku wrote alongside her footage.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service arrived on scene in under ten minutes of the emergency call, deploying multiple pumpers and quelling the flames within approximately five minutes of their arrival. Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, Director of the Fire and Rescue Service, later confirmed the blaze was contained to the original room of origin and routine hospital operations resumed shortly thereafter.
Despite the rapid response, the inferno caused structural damage to the second floor and left walls blackened by smoke and soot. At the time of reporting, no casualties or injuries had been confirmed, though fears were high that nursing mothers and their infants might have been at risk before the evacuation. According to hospital officials, some property worth millions of naira was lost, including critical medical equipment and patient records.
Dr. Bamidele Mustapha, the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, thanked God for the swift containment of the fire and the absence of fatalities. “We had over 100 patients on admission, including newborns, all of whom were safely evacuated thanks to our staff drills and the fire service’s efficiency.” Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, with initial suspicions pointing to an electrical spark within the nurses’ call room.
As the facility begins cleanup and repairs, Lagos health authorities have pledged support to restore full services without delay.
