According to reports reaching Obinwannem, the popular timber market, behind Chiedu Okoh Plaza, at the Asaba axis of the busy Benin-Asaba-Onitsha highway has got up in flames as goods yet to be quantified were said to have been consumed.

The fire which was claimed to have occurred at about 7 pm on Saturday, from a cold room behind the timber market, and spread rapidly into the market stocked with woods.

Meanwhile, Chukwuma Opiah who happens to be a resident has stated that he came back home around 7 pm and realized that the area was up in flames.

Opiah has claimed that an electric spark which started from the cold room was responsible for the market inferno.

He said while operatives of the fire service responded on time; emergency responders and concerned neighbours had already extinguished the inferno after it raged for about an hour.

A shop owner in the market, Steve Oliseh blamed the leadership of the market for allowing the cold room to be sited in the area.

“We have had issues with the cold room several times; it had destroyed the transformer on several occasions,” he lamented.

One of the owners of the burnt shops, Victor Okeke said he came back from his village on Sunday after hearing about the incident in the early hours of the day.

Although he mentioned that, he could not ascertain the number of shops that were affected, he revealed that most shop owners were not yet aware of the situation.

Expressing displeasure over the incident, Okeke pleaded with the government to come to the aid of victims of the fire accident.

Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting Obinwannem News