An early morning fire, on Friday, razed a section of a popular market, Relief Market in Onitsha, Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, destroying several goods and vehicles.
The inferno, which also affected shops and vehicles around the area, started when a tanker laden with substances suspected to be Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) fell along Obodo-Ukwu Road by the Owerri Road area.
Witnesses said the fire spread to the market, forcing traders to scamper for safety.
“The whole Onitsha is shaking. Even the fire service cannot put off the inferno. Anywhere you are in Onitsha you will be feeling it,” Ifeanyi Emmanuel, a truck driver, told PREMIUM TIMES Friday morning.
Mr Emmanuel said the road the tanker fell down has been deplorable.
Amarachi Ekeorji, a businesswoman, who said her husband was lucky to escape the inferno, said she saw the fire spread towards the market.
“It is still burning,” she said.
READ ALSO: Fire razes market in Anambra
The Chief Fire Officer in Anambra, Martin Agbili told PREMIUM TIMES he could not make any comment now as he was busy with “an emergency”, apparently referring to the fire incident.
This is happening barely 24 hours after a fire incident was reported at the Main Market Onitsha on Thursday, which was said to have been put off immediately by the state fire service.
Earlier this week, over 400 corpses were said to have been burnt to ashes in a fire accident at the mortuary section of the General Hospital, Onitsha.
PREMIUM TIMES reported, last week, how a foodstuff market was razed in Oko, Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.
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