About 150 shops at ‘Yan Katako’ market in Sabon Gari, Zaria, Kaduna State have been destroyed by fire.
According to reports, the fire started at about 1 am on Wednesday and lasted till afternoon.
The Chief Security Officer of the market, Hamisu Buhari explained that the fire began when Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company restored power and an electric pole fell on the roof of one of the shops.
He further explained that efforts to attract fire service agencies within the area proved abortive.
He revealed that he personally went to the Kofar Doka Fire Service office but was informed that their operational vehicle was not in good shape.
He said, “I finally contacted the fire service at the Sabon Gari Main Market. They asked me to provide fuel for them, which I did before they could come to the scene.”
Alhaji Alin Ashiru, the chairman of Timber dealers in the market attributed the inferno to an electric spark.
He reaffirmed that about 150 shops had been burnt to ashes, with property worth millions of naira destroyed.
Abdul Azeez Abdullahi, the Head of Corporate Affairs, KEDCO, denied that electricity spark caused the fire outbreak.
He alleged that reports received indicated that the fire incident started in one of the shops in the market and spread to other shops.