About 15 shops were reportedly burnt to ashes yesterday following the midnight inferno that gutted a shopping complex at Atiba-Iyalamu Oja-Tuntun area of Ilorin in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Already, the shop owners have started count their losses due to the inferno as they appealed to the state government and wealthy individuals to come to their aid.
During the incident, it was gathered that property worth several millions of naira were affected by the inferno.
Sources close to the area told journalists in Ilorin yesterday that15 out of the 20 shops were burnt beyond recognition during the incident.
Sources added that the inferno was said to have been caused by power surge that occurred in one of the shops and later spread to other shops in the shopping complex.
It was further learnt that no one noticed the ravaging inferno on time until a Good Samaritan in the area alerted the men of the state fire service.
The development, however, prompted the men of the state fire service to deploy their equipment to the scene of the incident in order to quench the spread of the inferno.
Contacted, the Head of Media and Publicity, State Fire Service, Mr. Hakeem Adekunle, confirmed the incident and said that “fire has burnt 15 shops in a shopping complex comprised of 20 shops at Atiba-Iyalamu Oja-Tuntun Area, in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.
“The fire outbreak occurred at midnight hours of yesterday and no one was able to notice the ravaging inferno on time.
“However, men of the State Fire Service were able to immediately stop the further spread of the inferno and subsequently eliminated it.
“Firemen were able to save the surrounding buildings from the scathed inferno.”
He urged the general public, particularly the market men and women, to always play safe in their day to day activities.