The tragic incident occurred at the busy junction in Abakaliki when a cooking gas cylinder reportedly exploded in one of the shops, igniting a fire that rapidly spread to nearby stores.
An eyewitness, Mr. Oku Chinagorom, said the explosion occurred while the shop owner, popularly known as Mama Osi, was attending to activities in the shop.
According to him, the woman’s husband had travelled to their Okposi community a day before the incident.
Chinagorom explained that the fire started after the gas cylinder suddenly exploded and quickly spread to goods inside the shop, triggering a massive blaze that engulfed neighbouring stores.
He said Mama Osi sustained severe burns while attempting to rescue her four children who were inside the shop when the explosion occurred. Unfortunately, one of the children, identified as Osinachi, was burnt beyond recognition in the inferno.
Neighbours in the area later intervened and managed to put out the fire after frantic efforts, while the injured victims were rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent medical treatment.
The eyewitness further revealed that at least five shops were completely destroyed in the fire, with goods and property worth millions of naira lost.
One of the affected shop owners, Mrs. Nnenna Elom, lamented that the incident occurred shortly after she left her shop to make preparations for a burial ceremony.
Elom said the inferno destroyed several goods in her shop, including drums of oil and other items valued at over ₦1 million. She added that many of the items were purchased on credit, expressing deep worry over how she would repay her suppliers.
According to her, goods worth more than ₦700,000 which she had collected from suppliers earlier that morning were completely consumed by the fire.
She appealed to the Ebonyi State Government, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and other well-meaning individuals to come to the aid of the affected victims.
Another shop owner, Mr. David Akam, an oil dealer, said the fire spread from a neighbouring shop and eventually engulfed five shops in the area.
Akam recounted that while the inferno was spreading rapidly, he managed to rescue a neighbour whose wrapper had caught fire during the chaos, although the woman sustained serious injuries.
He estimated that goods worth more than ₦20 million were destroyed in the blaze.
Confirming the incident, the Executive Secretary of the Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency (EBSEMA), Mr. Clement Ovuoba, said the agency had deployed a response team to the scene to assess the level of damage and document the losses.
Ovuoba described the incident as unfortunate and assured that the findings would be reported to the appropriate authorities to facilitate possible government intervention aimed at assisting the victims and cushioning the impact of the tragedy.
As of the time of filing this report, the four injured victims receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital were said to be in critical condition.
