Clement Nnachi
A midnight inferno at the weekend razed down motor spare parts market, and destroyed property worth millions of naira at mechanic village Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
Accordingly, 8 vehicles parked at the market premises were equally destroyed during the fire disaster.
When correspondent visited the scene of the incident, remnants of burnt vehicles, tyres and other motor spare parts littered in some of the affected workshops while the owners and sympathizers stood in clusters and watched helplessly.
One of the victims Mr. Sunday Nworie alleged that the fire incident started from a nearby workshop where apprentices may have forgotten to extinguish burning firewood they used in refurbishing car wash absorbers.
He said, “At the back of the village where the fire started, you see a lot of tyres packed there, so I just suspect that the fire started from that place, the main thing that the fire burnt worth millions of naira.”
However the owner of the workshop, Mr Livinus Nwadume denied the allegation pointing out that he does not make use of the burning firewood in the repair of damaged spare parts.
He said, “The fire did not emanate from my shop, because if you say that the fire start from my shop, how did the thing start from 12 midnight.”
Mr Nwadume described the incident as unfortunate claiming that he lost thousands of naira worth of tyres and other spare parts in the inferno.
Reacting to the incident, the chairman of the site, Mr Erastus Nwojiji, said that his management committee has done all they could to enforce the decongestion and the removal of inflammable materials at the site but to no avail.
Mr Nwojiji commended the state fire service for their prompt intervention and appealed to the state government to assist the victims to enable them start their living again .
