About four people have reportedly died, while many others sustained various degrees of injury during an explosion that resulted in a fire outbreak at the popular drug market Onitsha on Tuesday.
The inferno equally destroyed goods and properties worth millions of naira.
According to an eye witness, there was a chemical explosion in one of the stores along Government line section of the market before the fire broke out.
There have reports of chemicals being stored in the market in very unconducive conditions.
Some have complained that owners of the warehouses where the chemicals were stored, are not professionals in the said field but only merchants who learned the trade and became masters on their own.
When TNC correspondent got to the scene of the incident, the entire area was barricaded.
The market was also shut down due to the incident while men of the Anambra State fire service were seen battling the fire.
When contacted, Mr. Nobert Okoli, the financial secretary of Head Bridge Markets confirmed that the market is currently closed due to the unfortunate incident.
The Managing Director of the Anambra State Fire Service, Engr. Martin Agbili who confirmed that only a section of the Ọgbọ Ọgwụ Market was affected, said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
