Sections of the Katsina Central market were razed Monday with hundreds of shops burnt to ashes and goods worth millions of naira lost.
Blueprint gathered that the inferno started around 8:30am at a shop and quickly spread to other parts at the centre of the market.
The fire was still raging as at about 12:30pm, in spite of efforts of firemen to contain it. The inferno had destroyed property worth billions of Naira, mostly belonging to traders selling clothings, shoes, kitchen utensils, carpets, plastics among others.
Some of the traders affected said they had no idea how the fire started, but added that they had lost everything in their shops to the fire.
Alhaji Harisu Abdullahi, whose shop was among those destroyed, said it was difficult to ascertain the cause of the fire, and has left everything in the hands of Allah
A combined team of federal and state fire fighters, state emergency management agency, police and other security agencies fought to put the fire out.
Chairman of the traders’ association, Alhaji Abbas Labaran Alibaba, said the fire began at a shop close to the market mosque, adding that the estimate of the wealth lost could not ascertained.
He ruled out electric fault as the possible cause of the fire, saying there was no electric power at the time of the incident.
Governor Bello Masari of Katsina state, who went round the affected sections to see the extent of the damage caused by the inferno, was obviously shocked as he left without uttering a word to the media.
The incident happened one day after fire destroyed over 60 shops at Tudun Wada market in Zamfara state.
