A midnight fire on Wednesday gutted 28 shops at the popular Kara market in Ajase-Ipo, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The blaze, which started at about 1:35 a.m., destroyed 22 plank shops and six container shops before it was contained by operatives of the Kwara State Fire Service.
Spokesperson of the agency, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the incident, attributing it to negligence by a trader who was reportedly cooking late at night and failed to properly extinguish the fire.
“The fire later reignited and spread rapidly due to the wooden structures in the area.
“Our men responded promptly and stopped the flames from consuming the entire market,” Adekunle said, adding that the market has a total of 323 shops.
He commended firefighters for averting a bigger disaster and urged traders to be more safety conscious, stressing the need to completely put out fires after use, particularly in markets prone to such outbreaks.
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