Anguish has taken over sellers and sympathisers as a fire accident took place at the Tippee Market on 3rd Avenue, Gwarinpa in Abuja leaving fewer than five persons dead and several others injured.
The fire started from a spark in one of the shops and raged on for about two hours before the arrival of the Federal Fire Service.
An eyewitness who spoke with our correspondent said that fire fighters did not arrive at the scene until 2am after the market was engulfed by fire.
Hoodlums took advantage of the situation to vandalise the shops and carried out other criminal activities before the fire fighters arrived.
Five bodies were recovered from the fire and taken to the morgue. One was burnt to ashes while those injured were rushed to the hospital.
An eyewitness report was quoted saying, “We were woken up that night at about 12am. Almost every resident of the Estate had to rush to the scene of the fire outbreak. We were all helpless and couldn’t do anything.
“For over two hours, fire fighters didn’t come to the scene. Six people had already been burnt to death before they arrived. Some of the shop owners usually sleep there. So, they were trapped in their shops.
“Many people have lost their sources of livelihood. Even private houses were burnt too. It was a sad situation. The corpses have been evacuated and the fire put out. It was caused by a spark in one of the shops.”