Federal Secretariat on Fire as ministry of education staff panic

There was panic at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday following  a fire outbreak that engulfed the
5th floor office of the Ministry of Education.
It took the combined efforts of the Federal Fire Service and FCT Fire Service, to put out the fire which reportedly started around 1.45pm and spread to the 6th floor.
No casualty was recorded in the incident, but some files, furniture and other office equipment were destroyed by the fire.
The Minister of Education was said to be holding a meeting with principals of Unity Schools across the country when the fire broke out.
The meeting was said to have ended abruptly as the minister, his officials and other participants scampered to safety.
Confirming the incident, the FFS Public Relations Officer, Mr. Collins Elechi, said the fire started on the 5th floor and later spread to the next floor.
Elechi, an Assistant Comptroller, who said the cause of the fire was not immediately known, noted that there was no casualty.
He said, “We cannot ascertain the cause of the fire now until later. It started from the 5th floor and remained between it and the 6th floor.
 “As you can see, the fire has been put off, we curtailed it from spreading to adjourning property.”
The FFS spokesman, however, said one of the immediate challenges his men faced was that the building had no hydrant.
“There is a need for a functional hydrant in this building, we could not see one; we are not of course indicting the occupants of this building. That is one of the challenges we met here in the process,’’ he said.
The National Emergency Management Agency  Research and Rescue Officer, Mr. Labaran Haman, said investigation to determine the cause of the fire was ongoing, adding that the rescue teams, including NEMA and fire servicemen, responded swiftly but faced the challenge of crowd control.
There is currently a fire outbreak at the Federal Ministry of Education in the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.
It is difficult to ascertain the cause of the fire as the place and its environs are in confusion.
The fire, which was said to have started by 2pm, has affected some items at the Ministry of Education.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Education, Mr. Nnamdi Olebara, told The PUNCH,  “Call back because our secretariat is on fire.”
Details later…