A late-night fire in a short-let apartment on Coca-Cola Road, Ilorin, Kwara State, kills one man and devastates the building

A 52-year-old man has died after a late-night fire gutted a short-let apartment along Coca-Cola Road in Ilorin, Kwara State.

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The incident occurred around 11:38 p.m. on Thursday in the Lafia Hotel area, where the two-flat building, each containing three bedrooms, was completely destroyed.

The structure was used for short-let purposes rather than as a conventional residential apartment.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, smoke filled the entire building at the time of the outbreak, making escape extremely difficult.

“One life was lost in the incident; an unidentified male, estimated to be about 52 years of age. Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was attributed to a power surge immediately after power supply was restored, which led to rapid fire spread across the building,” the statement read.

Firefighters responded promptly, deploying three fire appliances and additional support from the Federal Fire Service to contain the blaze within minutes.

The Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, expressed concern over the loss of life and urged property owners, particularly operators of short-let apartments, to prioritise electrical safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.

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The fire follows a separate incident on February 12, when the Fire Service recovered the lifeless body of an unidentified man from a river along the Osin/Laduba axis of Ilorin West Local Government Area.