Two Electrocuted Trying To Save Others in Lagos

Residents of Utuh Street, Araromi Quarters at Ketu area of Lagos were plunged into mourning, following the death of a woman while trying to save the lives of her two children. The woman, Mrs Bashirat Rauf, was not the only person who died on the fateful day. Another resident identified as Sodiq Saka also died while trying to ensure that others did not die in a fire outbreak.

The fire was said to have started after two high-tension cables fell on a school building in the area, sparking an inferno. Residents who mourned Rauf and Saka also gave thanks to God, saying that many school children would have died but for the Sallah break. Surprisingly, Rauf and Saka, who were trying to save people died, while those they tried to save are alive. When our correspondent went to the area, it was gathered that Bashirat’s husband had gone out. A resident, however, attempted to recapture how the woman died on September 24. The resident said: “Bashirat has two kids; a boy and a girl.

The kids were playing outside when the high-tension cables fell and caused fire. The school is close to residential homes. Bashirat ran out of her apartment, screaming for her two kids. As she rushed to pick them, she stepped on one of the cables. When people realised that she was electrocuted, they screamed, but there was nothing anybody could have done.

The two kids are still alive. Nothing happened to them, but Bashirat died.” Saka, who many described as a Good Samaritan, was also electrocuted. According to some residents, when Saka noticed the raging fire in the school compound, he dashed out of his apartment and frantically searched for a bucket to fetch water.

The thought in his mind was how to arrest the fire from spreading to other buildings. He had already fetched the water and was making his way towards the burning building when he also stepped on a cable. He died instantly. Saka’s grieving father, Imam, said: “As a Muslim, I have accepted my fate. There is nothing I can do to bring the dead back to life.

Sodiq was the person who slaughtered the Sallah ram he bought for me on that day. When he was through with the ram, he told me he was going to get something down the street. A few minutes later, someone rushed to tell me that my son had been electrocuted in the neighbourhood.

“I was told that my son only went into the school premises where it was burning to assist in battling the fire, only for him to be electrocuted. What can I do now? Is it possible for me to give birth to a 30-yearold again?” The Secretary of Araromi Community Development Association, Mr Wahab Awoyemi, said it was a very sad day for all residents after the community lost two persons in a day.
He said: “We made frantic efforts to rescue both of them, but it was to no avail. We rushed to the Eko Distribution Company office at Mile 12, to switch off the power, but the person who was supposed to switch off the power was not on duty. “They (the victims) were later taken to hospital, but pronounced dead by doctors. We want government to come to our aid in the community. We are suffering. We have no accessible road. This affected the timely arrival of firefighters.”