From: Ruth Yarnap, Bauchi
One person has been reported dead in a fire outbreak while property worth millions of naira were destroyed at the major Muda Lawal Market in Bauchi metropolis of Bauchi state.
Confirming the incident to newsmen, the Chairman of Muda Lawal Market, Baba Maigaji said that although the actual cause of the fire could not be ascertained at the moment, eyewitnesses said that the fire was caused by a spark triggered by an electrical fault from a Keke NAPEP that was parked close to a truck carrying mattresses.
According to him, a section of the market was destroyed, saying that the incident happened at the heart of the market where there are a lot of trading activities.
The Chairman said that the fire was eventually put out by the officials of the fire service in the state who came to the scene of the incident as security were equally deployed to the area to maintain law and order.
According to him , “The fire started from a truck carrying mattresses that parked in the market since yesterday.Most of the eyewitnesses said that a Keke Napep that was parked close to the truck started the fire as a result of an electric spark.
“We recorded huge losses in the fire outbreak. A 5 year old boy who was sleeping in one of the shops in the market during the fire incident died.
So far, 17 shops, 8 cars , 11 motorcycles and 1 Keke NAPEP were burnt in the inferno.Some of the youths were throwing stones at the vehicle of the fire service because they were angry they came late to the scene of the incident.It took the intervention of the security agents to calm the situation.”
