The well-known Karu Modern Market, which is situated across from the Prince and Princess market in the Karu District of Abuja, was completely destroyed by fire on Friday night. It is said that the fire broke out at approximately 11 p.m. on Friday and destroyed about 40 stores, taking with it food, appliances, and household goods.
In a report provided to a news correspondent on Saturday, Acting Director of the FCT Fire Service Amiola Adebayo confirmed the incident and said that an electrical spark on a power switch installed in one of the shops caused the fire, which was exacerbated by a generator kept inside the shop where the fire started.
The report also said that combined crews from the Federal Fire Service and the FCT responded to the incident at 11:11 p.m. and eventually put it out at 1:59 a.m.
The report reads as follows “Property involved; Open Market block that comprises 39 shops of foodstuffs. Items lost: foodstuffs, generators, refrigerators, fruits, umbrellas, electrical appliances, household items, and some parts of the roof.
“Cause of fire: Electrical spark on a power change-over installed in one of the shops. The fire was put under control by the combined teams of the FCT fire service and Federal fire. Fire under control at 1:59 am.”
However, the Director omitted to mention whether or not the incident resulted in any fatalities or injuries to anyone.
In response to complaints that the Fire Service was slow to get at the location, Adebayo stated that the service was difficult to reach due to network issues from the service providers, but that officers arrived between 10 and 12 minutes after the call.
“The only challenge we had was network. They couldn’t reach us on time. I was there myself. When they called, I had to mobilise the Games Village service and in about 10-12 minutes they were there. But you know to a person at the scene, one minute would have felt like a long time. And then the Asokoro unit joined about 15 minutes after”, he said.
