Fire guts student hostel in Bauchi

A fire outbreak yesterday night razed a student hostel known as

Malisia lodge at Gwalameji area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis.

Though no life was lost because many of the occupants of the lodge travelled for the Christmas festivities, they lost all their belongings to the fire.

It was gathered that the fire which started around 2 am completely destroyed all the rooms in the hostel and it lasted for several hours before the arrival of the officials of Fire Service who came to put out the fire.

A tenant of the lodge called Jide told spencer Report that the fire started from one of the rooms which he suspected had an electrical fault.

“I was in my room sleeping when i started hearing people screaming fire, fire. I quickly rushed out of my room along with one other tenant in the lodge. The remaining occupants who are predominantly students traveled for the Christmas period.

“The whole building was razed down and all our belongings, including school certificates and credentials were completely burnt by the fire. We even called some of the occupants of the lodge to inform them about the incident. Men of the state fire service later came to put out the fire.”

Confirming the incident, the information officer of the state fire service, Abubakar Bala, said that 22 rooms were affected in the inferno, adding that the disaster was as a result of an electrical fault in one of the rooms.

“We always warn residents, especially during this wind season, to always switch off all electrical appliances before leaving the house because any tiny spark can cause a fire disaster,” he said.