Fire engulfs Sabon Gari market

From Desmond Mgboh/Kano

Another tragic fire outbreak has engulfed the famous Sabon –Gari Market (Muhammed Abubakar Rimi) in the metropolitan area of Kano State, destroying property worth millions of naira and ruining the economies of many families in the ancient city.

The midnight outbreak, which has so far affected about half of the market was first noticed at about midnight and is yet to be controlled at 10.30am on Saturday

By press time, many portions of the market had been burnt by the fire and worst hits were shops that were located along D-line (which consists of drug and medicine dealers); C- Line (which consist of shoes dealers) down to M- Line, L- Line (which were mainly of cosmetics and fabric shops)

Also affected by the rage of fire  were some gold shops, ceramic plates’ shops and some bicycles dealers, many of whom were devastated by the inferno that has robbed them of the goods=.

A place of worship, Abacha Mosque, which is located inside the market, as well as the office of First bank Plc located in the market has been burnt too

Daily Sun observed that thousands of traders, male and female including those who shops were yet to be affected, were struggling to cart their goods away from the burning market.

Tanks of the Kano State Fire Service, though very late in showing up,  were noticed trying to stop the spread. They were complimented by water tanks from the Nigeria Air Force, 303 Brigade, Kano and some private organizations like W J Bush and co whose tanks have made several stops.

Several victims of the tragic disaster had fainted following the shocks of the incident.

Among was a pregnant woman whose husband’s shop had been razed by the fire and another victim, who was said to have left a huge size  of money in his shops across the night.

Newly appointed Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Muhammed Mustapha Riwanu told Sunday Sun that they dispatched a total of eight vehicles to fight the fire in the market, adding that the fire started in the middle of the night.

He explained that fire started from the shoe area of the marketfrom where it spread to the rest of the market even as he acknowledged that fire has so far affected a sizable portion of the market.

He disclosed that they suspected the fire was caused by electricity sparks, and added that, it was yet early to estimate the total size of loss as the operation to quench the fire was still on –going.

It could be recalled Kano State has suffered the outbreak of several mystery fire incidents in the last few months. Just a few months back, the wood section of the same market was gutted by fire which destroyed millions of naira worth of property.