No fewer than five persons were severely burnt, 30 shops destroyed and millions of naira lost on Thursday after fire razed a section of popular Ekeki Motor Park in Yenagoa Local Government of Bayelsa State.
It was learnt that the fire, which brought the shops including some offices to a rubble,started about 9am.
An eyewitness, who gave his name as David Ogbonna, said the fire incident was caused by generator explosion.
Ogbonna said the explosion occurred when an unnamed shop owner, who deals in motor spare parts, was filling his power generating set with petrol.
He said as the spare parts dealer was pouring petrol into the power generating set, the fuel had contact with the exhaust and the generator went up in flames.
He said it was at that point the man, who also collects daily contribution from traders and
drivers, rushed out to seek help.
The eyewitness, said the spare parts dealer, sensing that the fire would consume all the money in his care which he kept in the office, braved the fire.
He said though he succeeded in saving some money from being burnt, the fire burnt him from head to toe.
He added, “The survival of the man is in doubt. The fire burnt him seriously. When the fire started, he ran out to seek help. But when the man noticed the fire had become ferocious and had plenty of money which he had collected from people, he decided to brave it to save the money.
“However, he succeeded in saving some money but the fire burnt him severely. I doubt if he can survive it. He was later rushed to an unknown hospital with four other persons caught in the inferno.”
A pool operator, Hope Effeng, whose shop was burnt beyond recognition, said she lost over N200, 000 to the fire.
Apart from the cash, Effeng said she lost TV set, pools papers, tables, chairs, fans, among others to the inferno.
Effeng, who spoke amid tears, said the shop was her only means of livelihood, wondering what else she would do to eke a living.
She appealed to the government and philanthropic Nigerians to help her.
Also, a shop attendant, Kate Ugochukwu, was seen dashing herself on the ground, crying uncontrollably.
She told our correspondent that all the money she had been selling since the week began had been consumed by the fire.
“I lost more than N100,000 to the fire. All my wares have been consumed. Where do I start from? Who do I run to? How do I handle this?” she asked herself rhetorically.
A trader at the park, who gave his name only as Chima, said the fire could not have wreaked much havoc if the state firefighters had arrived on time.
He alleged that men of the state fire service arrived the scene about two hours after the fire began.
He said the late arrival of the firefighters angered some youths, who turned them back.
When our correspondent visited the scene around 10am, the fire was still raging, while sympathisers, traders and drivers were watching the inferno helplessly.
Our correspondent gathered that similar fire incident occurred in the park two years ago.
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