The Film House Cinema in a shopping mall at Apapa, Lagos State was gutted by fire on Friday.
It was gathered that customers and workers began perceiving the smell of burning substances as normal activities were still in full gear.
The burning smell was later traced to the cinema which had been abandoned for a while.
Workers and customers were ordered to vacate the building as a temporary shutdown of business was initiated
Speaking to The Punch, a source in one of the shops in the mall, said the fire started around 11am, adding that the situation threw customers and workers into a panic.
He, however, noted that no life was lost in the incident, adding that it took the intervention of firefighters to put out the fire.
The source said, “The fire started around 11pm and based on what I gathered, the fire occurred at the film house’s shop in the mall. Some people said the fire was caused by an electrical fault.
“They had to evacuate people and called in the fire service. When the fire service officials came, they put everything under control and put the fire out around 2pm. Normal activities have resumed in the mall.”
Contacted, the Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, who confirmed the incident, said it took a long time for people to discover that fire was burning in the cinema because it was abandoned.
She also noted that there was no causality recorded in the incident.
She said, “The Film House Cinema is not in use. By the time we were alerted and got to the place, we realised that the fire had burnt for quite some time. Almost every abandoned material in there was already burnt to ashes. The mall is a one-storey building and the film house is housed at the upper floor of the one-storey building.’’
Speaking on the cause of the fire, Adeseye said the cinema could still have electrical current supplied in its premises, adding no one was using the power supply as the place had been abandoned for some time.
Adeseye said, “We are still trying to unravel the possible cause. We got the fire alert around 11.50am and the fire was extinguished around 2pm. No life or injury was recorded,”
