Over 150 shops have been gutted by fire at the popular “Yan Katako” market in Sabon Gari, Zaria area of Kaduna State.
According to a source who spoke to The Punch on the condition of anonymity, the fire started at about 1am on Wednesday and it continued till the afternoon.
The Chief Security Officer of the market, Hamisu Buhari, confirmed 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 added that efforts to attract fire service agencies within the area proved abortive.
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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.
The Head of Corporate Affairs, KEDCO, Abdul Azeez Abdullahi, confirmed the fire incident but denied that the electric spark caused it.
