2nd LD Writethru: Mystery fire engulfs Nigerian gov't secretariat

A mystery fire on Thursday engulfed the Nigerian government secretariat, a massive building that houses most of the country's ministries in the capital Abuja, civil servants and local media said.

No injury or death has been so far reported but sources said some civil servants might have been trapped in the building as the fire spreads to various offices in the complex.

According to Amina Mohammed, a reporter with local online newspaper Premium Times, who witnessed the incident, the fire started in the sixth floor of the complex, housing the Federal Ministry of Education.

Fire fighters arrived a bit late to frantically extinguish the raging inferno, which had already damaged some government properties, a civil servant said on condition of anonymity.

The civil servant, working in one of the ministries housed in the massive building, said before the arrival of the fire fighters, none of the fire extinguishers placed in strategic places in the complex could be used to quench the inferno as they had all expired. Other fire equipment at the building were not functional, hampering efforts to extinguish the fire.

"Even the fire fighters, upon arrival, had to use ladders to climb up to the top floors where the fire began," another civil servant said.

No official statement, explaining cause of the fire or mentioning casualties figure, has so far been issued by the authorities. Endi