By our correspondent
No fewer than 6 shops were, on Friday night, razed by fire in Calabar, Cross River State.
Witnesses told our correspondent on Friday that the fire began around 12 a.m. destroying goods and property worth millions of Naira.
It was further learnt that the incident happened along Atimbo area in Calabar destroying goods affecting line of shops included a laundry service, a local DSTV subscription office, a pharmacy, a barbing salon, a tailoring shop, and an eatery.
Residents said the blaze, which broke out suddenly, spread rapidly and left nothing salvageable.
Though the exact cause of the fire had not been officially confirmed at the time of filing this report, many residents suspect it was triggered by electrical sparks following a series of outages and power fluctuations throughout the day.
A landlady in the area, Madam Nkoyo Effiom, described the scene as heartbreaking. “I couldn’t sleep again. I ran out when I saw people shouting. These shop owners are good neighbours; it’s painful to see their livelihood gone overnight,” she said.
Another resident, Samuel Ezeugo, said the community had been experiencing incessant power cuts during the day. “Effiom confirmed there were several outages, which might have led to the sparks and, eventually, this terrible fire,” he added.
Efforts to contact the spokesperson of the fire service in the State proved abortive as his numbers were switched off.
