A midnight fire
razed a section of the Gombe Old Market,
burned 48 shops as well as destroyed property worth millions of naira on
Tuesday.
The fire, which was
said to have resulted from faulty electrical appliances, consumed a section
dominated by dealers in cosmetics as well as tailoring shops.
Chairman of the
traders’ association at the market, Muhammad Abba Aliyu, blamed the fire
incident on irregular power supply. He
told journalists that the fire reportedly began around 1.00am, shortly after power was restored to the area.
“I got a call shortly after 1.00am and, on arrival at the
market, I met the place on fire. The
police and fire servicemen were already there as well as a large crowd of sympathisers
who tried to put out the fire. Despite our collective efforts, the fire lasted
till the following day.
“When PHCN restored
power to the market area, a line burst and caught fire. About 48 shops were
destroyed even though there were double shops among those burnt, bringing the total to about 52. Over 300 victims suffered losses in the fire
outbreak,” he said.
According to Aliyu,
among the buildings destroyed were 20
wholesale shops as well as stores where goods were kept.
Another victim,
Alhaji Umar Muhammad Yusuf, a dealer in cosmetics, while narrating his ordeal,
said he lost his shop to the fire outbreak.
“I lost my shop to
the fire, just as my younger brother as well as business colleagues,” he
lamented.
Though he failed to
identify the source of the fire, he said
he was summoned by phone only to arrive the scene to see a section of the
market on fire. He pleaded with the state government to come to their
assistance considering the fact that they lost their entire means of livelihood
to the fire.
Another victim, Bunu
Maiturare, while lamenting his calamity,
blamed the fire on faulty power supply. “My phone was on silent and it
was well past 5:00pm when I saw several missed calls from my business
colleagues. On calling one of the numbers, I was informed about the fire. I dashed there, only to see our shops on fire.”
Chibuzor Raymond, a
cosmetics dealer said he lost over N7 million to the inferno. “I have two shops
and just yesterday, I stocked my
shop, but, were all razed by the fire, I could not remove anything from
the shop,” he lamented.
When contacted, Public Relations Officer of Gombe State Fire Service, Haruna Wambai,
confirmed the incident but said only 43 shops were burnt. He, however, said investigation has already
started to ascertain the level and
possible causes of the fire outbreak.
Sunnews
Follow Solenzo Blog on
0 Comments