Shops and goods estimated at millions of naira have been destroyed by a night fire that razed a market on the popular Iweka Road, close to Ochanja market in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital.
The fire, which started at 08:30pm on Tuesday, razed shops that had furniture materials such as leathers, foams, and others.
Although the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained, it was gathered that the fire raged for several minutes before the arrival of the firefighters as some of the traders had already gone home before the fire started.
Residents and sympathisers were seen trying to salvage some of the remnants of the goods in the shops while calling on the affected traders to come back to the market.
Confirming the fire incident on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Anambra State Fire Service, Chukwudi Chiketa, said the agency received a distress call at 09:40pm on Wednesday and deployed a crew of firemen and firefighting equipment to the scene.
According to Chiketa, the crew stopped the fire from further escalation.
