HispanicBusiness

A multistory warehouse packed with fire crackers among other products went up in a blaze on Wednesday in Lagos, the Nigerian commercial capital, local media reports said.

The fire quickly spread to other buildings and efforts were being made by emergency services and local residents to extinguish the blaze, which sent a plume of thick smoke high into the sky over Nigeria's largest city.

A lack of sufficient fire trucks and water supplies was hamstringing the work, according to witnesses.

"Some residents who were injured while attempting to assist in putting off the fire have been taken to hospital for treatment," said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

"While security agencies (will) investigate and determine the real cause of the explosion and fire outbreaks, casualty figures are yet to be determined," he said.

It was unclear if anyone was inside the building at the time of the explosion.

Fire crackers are commonly used around the Christmas and New Years holidays in Nigeria.