Six lost their lives, many injured in Abuja market fire

At least six persons lost their lives at a fire incident at Tippee Market on 3rd Avenue, Gwarinpa in Abuja on Thursday morning.

The fire left a few people injured.

The fire began from a spark in one of the shops and continued for about two hours until the Federal Fire Service arrived.

An eye witness informed Top Naija that firefighters did not show up until 2am after fire had already surrounded the market.

It was learnt that hooligan made use of the situation to destroy the shops and execute other criminal activities before the firefighters got to the scene.

Five dead bodies found in the fire were taken to the morgue. One was burnt to ashes and could not be recovered while those injured were quickly taken to the hospital.

An eyewitness said, “We were woken up last 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, firefighters 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.”

The Fire Service in Nigeria was established in 1901, as an arm of the Lagos Police Fire brigade. In April1963, an act of Parliament established the Federal Fire Service.

The Federal Fire Service (FFS) has the statutory responsibility for rescue fire prevention, mitigation, firefighting as well as paramedical and information services.

Liman Alhaji Ibrahim is the current Controller General of Fire Service of Nigeria.