(By David OnwuchekwaNNEWI)

Fire ravaged a timber market at Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, destroying millions of naira worth of goods and machinery, even as five of the traders in the market have been hospitalized.

The Chairman of the Nnewi Timber Dealers Association, Chief Chukwunonso Nnetu, said at the scene of the incident – which occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday, January 5 – that a security man in the market alerted him around some minutes past 12 midnight to tell him that the market was on fire.

He explained that he quickly contacted Awka, Nnewi, and Onitsha fire service stations.

“The fire had reached an advanced stage when the fire fighters came,” he said.

The cause of the fire outbreak has not been determined and no life has been lost.