Xmas day tragedy: We lost over N1 b to inferno -Ibadan plank sellers

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Xmas day tragedy: We lost over N1 b to inferno -Ibadan plank sellers
By;Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The Sango plank sellers in Ibadan on Saturday said they lost over N1billion to the Christmas day fire that razed parts of the market razing over 200 shops.
Speaking through their Secretary Mr. Gbenga Fasoro, the plank sellers declared over 250 shops, generators, equipment and goods were burnt by the fire arising from an explosion from a house beside the market.
According to Mr Fasoro, the fire started few minutes after the explosion when the cooking gas cylinder was reportedly thrown into the plank market from a kitchen window.
“There are more than 260 shops that got burnt with machines and goods. At least, four of the shop owners had over N15m worth of goods and equipment each. They just took delivery of large consignment that was loaded into the shops for four days. Roughly, we lost up to N1bn in the fire,” he said.
The Secretary declared that on the Christmas day, few minutes after his arrival into the market, he saw smoke coming from a nearby building and rushed to the scene, saying, “I realised that the house was on fire. I brought out the fire extinguisher of my car but it was too late. There was an explosion, which quickly spread into the market.
“What we later heard was that someone in the house was cooking with a gas stove which caught fire. In order to curb the fire in the kitchen, the person threw the gas cylinder out through the window into the market that shares a boundary with the house. Immediately, there was a huge explosion. This was the cause of the fire.”
The Secretary while giving details of the property lost to the inferno said “more than 100 generators were lost by carpenters, we have carpenters in the market that lost doors, frames and engines worth several millions among the 260 shop owners. A door is worth at least N7, 500 and no fewer than 1200 doors and thousands of frames were lost to the fire.”

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