A fire outbreak occurred in the early hours of Friday, January 1, 2016 at a student hostel known as Malisia lodge at Gwalameji area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis.
Fortunately, no life was lost as many of the students were away on Christmas holiday.
The fire which started at about 2am and lasted for several hours burnt down all the rooms in the building destroying all the property inside.
The Fire Service later arrived to put out the fire.
An occupant of the lodge, named Jide speaking to the press said 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 travelled 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 harmattan season, to always switch off all electrical appliances before leaving the house because any tiny spark can cause a fire disaster,” he said.
