About four persons were feared dead while several others sustained various degrees of injuries during a stampede caused by a fire outbreak that occured at the Chemical Market, Onitsha, Anambra State commercial hub.
The incident, LEADERSHIP gathered occurred at about 12.45pm on Tuesday afternoon and also destroyed goods and shops valued at millions of naira in the market.
The stampede was said to have happened following a blast that occurred in a part of the market, which ignited fire.
The four traders, who died and those injured, were trying to escape but as a result of the stampede lost their lives while those who sustained injuries were rushed to nearly hospitals.
Chairman of Onitsha South local government area, Mr Emeka Orji, told journalists that “about four persons were confirmed dead while 12 persons so far were injured following an explosion at the Onitsha Chemical Market today Tuesday, which caused fire disaster in the area.
“So far, goods worth over ₦850million was said to have been destroyed by the bomb blast with several shops also destroyed in the process.
“The bomb blast occured at about 12.45pm at the market which led to a fire outbreak and stampede at the market. As a result of traders scampering for safety, four persons lost their lives while more than twelve persons sustained various levels of injury in the process,” Orji said.
He complained that though the men of the State Fire Service led by the chief fire officer, Mr. Martin’s Agbili, assisted by their counterparts in nearby Asaba in Delta State, responded swiftly but their operations were hampered due to congestion in the market.
He, however, stated that the fire service men were able to control the fire from spreading across the entire market.
Mr. Orji also praised the Divisional Police Officer (DPO ), Rabiu Garba, whom he said swiftly deployed officers and men to the market to guarantee security of goods and other properties belonging to the traders.
A trader in the market, Mr. Nweke Uchenna, narrated how the incident happened thus: “We were at our shops as usual when we heard a loud noise like a bomb blast and we saw thick smoke from some shops upstairs and everyone started running for safety.
“Then people started shouting for help and we saw people carrying bodies of people from those shops that were on fire and some were burnt pretty badly while some seemed to have been suffocated by the smoke and the stampede.
“We don’t know how much that have been lost to the fire but it can be estimated at N850million to about N1billion because the goods are strong chemical products that are highly inflammable.”
