A fire outbreak on Friday night damaged a section of the popular Kaura Modern Market, located opposite the Prince and Princess Market in Abuja’s Kaura District.
The inferno, which apparently began about 11 p.m. on Friday, destroyed over 40 shops, destroying products such as food, appliances, and household goods.
Confirming the incident, Amiola Adebayo, Acting Director of the FCT Fire Service, stated in a report shared with our correspondent on Saturday that the inferno was caused by an electrical spark on a power changeover installed in one of the shops, which was exacerbated by a generator kept inside the shop where the inferno began.
According to the report, the incident was reported at 11:11 p.m. and was eventually extinguished at 1:59 a.m. by combined teams of the FCT and Federal Fire Service.
The report reads, “Property involved: an open market block that comprises 39 shops of foodstuffs. Items lost: foodstuffs, generators, refrigerators, fruits, umbrellas, electrical appliances, household items, and some parts of the roof.
“Cause of fire: Electrical spark on a power change-over installed in one of the shops. The fire was put under control by the combined teams of the FCT fire service and Federal Fire. Fire under control at 1:59 am.”
The director, however, did not say whether there had been any deaths or injuries as a result of the incident.
Responding to reports that the Service came late at the scene of the event, Adebayo said that network issues from service providers made the service difficult to reach, but that officers arrived between 10 and 12 minutes after receiving the call.
“The only challenge we had was network. They couldn’t reach us on time. I was there myself. When they called, I had to mobilise the Games Village service, and in about 10-12 minutes they were there. But you know, to a person at the scene, one minute would have felt like a long time. And then the Asokoro unit joined about 15 minutes later,” he said.
