An inferno has razed several houses and shops at Alangua Compound, opposite Kulende Market in the Sango area of Ilorin, Kwara, after electricity was restored.

This was confirmed by Hassan Hakeem Adekunle, the spokesman for Kwara Fire Service, in a statement on Wednesday, saying the incident occurred in the early hours of the day.

He stated the service received a distress call at about 5:16 a.m. and arrived at the scene at 5:32 a.m.

“The incident involved a building comprising approximately 10 rooms and 20 shops, which had already been engulfed in flames before the arrival of our firefighters due to the late notification,” he said.

Mr Adekunle said the firefighters began firefighting operations and brought the fire under control at 6:10 a.m. upon arrival.

“The fire affected eight rooms, while other adjoining buildings were successfully protected from the spread of the flames through the swift and coordinated intervention of our personnel,” he said.

The spokesman said that, according to information gathered during preliminary investigation, the blaze reportedly occurred moments after electricity was restored to the area, when smoke was noticed coming from one of the rooms.

“The affected room reportedly contained a large quantity of used rubber slippers and flip-flops collected by scavengers for recycling purposes. The combustible nature of the materials contributed significantly to the rapid spread of the fire,” he said.

He added that the exact circumstances of the ignition remained under investigation.