Tragedy struck the White House section of the Onitsha Market, Anambra State as a fire incident ravaged the popular “Gbongboro” section of the market in the early hours of Tuesday.

The section, which serves as a warehouse and a hub for the sale of lace and other clothing materials, was located at the back of the Onitsha market.

At the time of this report, the actual cause of the fire was still unknown, but the inferno had already caused massive destruction to goods worth millions of naira.

Traders were seen frantically trying to salvage the remaining parts of their goods while calling for the men of fire service to assist them in putting out the fire.

Eyewitnesses stated that the intensity of the fire was quite alarming, and the efforts of the traders to put out the fire proved futile.

The fire continued to spread, and it became clear that the intervention of the fire service was necessary to curtail the destruction.

An eyewitness said, “The fire started at the White House where they sell lace materials. The place was supposed to be a motor park and an emergency exit but the people blocked it with illegal structures through the approval of some government agencies.

“Even when the fire service will come, there might not be entry point where they could enter easily to start battling the fire, even the traders could not enter to salvage their items and this has made the fire to continue to rage.”

The state fire chief, Martin Agbili, could not be reached for reactions as of the time of filing this report at about 9:20am as the fire continue to rage.

When contacted, the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said, “The details are still sketchy but situation is being monitored and firefighters operatives and police are there. Other details shall be communicated.”

Details later…