Kaduna to probe Panteka Market fire

The Kaduna State government is to investigate the cause of the Friday morning fire at the old Panteka market in Kaduna metropolis and seek ways of avoidinga re-occurrence.

Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai,who commiserated with traders during a visit to the market around 10am Friday with top government officials, assured victims that the government wouldensure thorough investigation into the incident.

A statement from the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan quoted El-Rufai as saying,

“As a government, we will get to the root of the matter and also ensure thorough investigation to ascertain the root cause and seek ways to avoid such incidents in the future. May Almighty God restore all that you lost in this unfortunate situation.”

Seventy shops were believed to have been destroyed when an early morning fire gutted a section of the market, leading to the loss of goods worth millions of naira.

Affected shop owners were seen trying to salvage what remained of their wares while others wailed with loud lamentation as their goods were no more.

Our correspondent gathered that the fire started around 2am on Friday and quickly consumed the plywood section of the market.

Yakubu Ibrahim, a trader at the market, said, “We just heard a heavy sound and as we rushed to the scene, we saw it was the section of the plywood section that caught fire. Before the fire service came to the scene the fire had spread to other sections of the market.”

At the time of filing this report, the fire service with the support of the state emergency management agency, had put out the fire.

The Secretary of the market, Ibrahim Abubakar,said over 70 shops were affected, though they were yet to know the cause.