Factory fire toll hits 45, says Red Cross

At least 45 people have been confirmed dead in a blaze which swept through a rubber products factory on the outskirts of Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, the Nigerian Red Cross Society said on Wednesday. The fire, which gutted the premises of Chinese-owned West Africa Rubber Products Limited and Super Engineering Limited in the town of Ikorodu, 40 km north of Lagos, in the early hours of Monday, trapped an entire shift of night workers in the locked compound. "Yesterday morning, we retrieved 30 bodies and evacuated 11 badly burnt people who are now receiving treatment," Patrick Bawa, Red Cross spokesman, told reporters. "Seven additional bodies were retrieved later in the evening," he added. Local newspapers said more than 200 people had been on duty in the factory when explosions started the fire at about 1 am. Some survivors said the fire had started in a kitchen area and may have been caused by leakages of cooking gas. Anti-riot police, who were drafted to the scene on Monday to contain looters, remained on guard on Wednesday. Some among the mobs that gathered wanted to attack management officials accused of locking staff in the factory, thus hampering their efforts to escape the blaze.