Days after fire gutted about 25 shops attached to the palace of the Elekunpa of Ekunpa, Oba Kosoko, Kazeem, in the Shibiri area of Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State, business owners, whose shops were affected by the inferno have yet to recover from the shock.PUNCH Metro observed during a visit to the palace that some of the victims had resorted to auctioning the remainder of their goods, while others, who had sustained burns from the fire, were nursing their injuries.

One of the victims, Eucharia Abu, said a boy was pouring fuel into a working generator, which led to an explosion that caused all the shops attached to the palace to be burnt.

The Imo State indigene said, “Around 2pm, one of the boys employed at the Bet9ja shop was pouring fuel into a generator when the generator and the keg of petrol caught fire. Out of fear, he threw the keg away and ran for safety; and it was that burning keg that attracted another generator, before the fire spread to the food vendor, who was using gas to cook. It was when the fire got in contact with the gas that the whole place exploded and the inferno got out of control.