ANAMBRA: ONE DIES, 5 INJURED AS FIRE RAZES DOWN ONITSHA MAIN MARKET YESTERDAY – SEE PHOTOS & DET

The Anambra Fire Service on Monday lost
one of its staff while fighting the inferno
that gutted the Ochanja Market, Onitsha.
The Acting Director of the service, Mr
Innocent Mbonu, who confirmed the death
of the staff, however, refused to
give the
name of the deceased.
Mbonu explained that a storey building in
the market collapsed on two of his staff in
an attempt to stop the fire, adding that
one died instantly while the other was
receiving treatment at a hospital.
“Eive other persons sustained various
degrees of injury while 15 shops, mostly
shoe shops, were razed during the
inferno,” he said.
When contacted, the Police Public
Relations Officer in the state, Mr Ali
Okechukwu, said that the cause of the fire
could not be ascertained.
“The governor was there. When
government comes out with its report on
the cause of the fire, we shall all know
but the place is calm now,” Okechukwu
said.
Reacting, a member of the market’s
vigilance group said that the fire started
at about 3 a.m. from a shop line and
extended to other areas.
The security guard, who pleaded
anonymity, said that efforts by the
firemen and others to put out the fire
were unsuccessful.
“The fireman met his untimely death
when he climbed a storey building to
spray water but unfortunately for him, the
building collapsed and he was consumed
by fire.
“Another official of the fire service broke
his leg and was among the five that
sustained various degrees of injury,” the
source said.
An eyewitness further disclosed that a
cash of N1.5 million was recovered in one
of the shops and was handed over to the
owner of the shop.
Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra, who
rushed to the fire scene early in the day,
said he would set up an investigative
panel to find the immediate and remote
causes of the fire outbreak.
Obiano said that he would provide a fire-
fighting vehicle and other equipment and
urged the traders to be calm.
-NANJ