Rivers seventh fire incident in two weeks guts 50 makeshift structures

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Rivers seventh fire incident in two weeks guts 50 makeshift structures

No fewer than 50 makeshift buildings were destroyed on Sunday when a fire broke out in Rumuokalagbor community, in the Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The latest is the seventh fire incident in the state within two weeks.

Eyewitnesses said the fire started when a teenage boy was cooking close to some containers of kerosene meant for sale by his parents.

They valued property and goods destroyed in the inferno at millions of naira, adding that most residents could not salvage their belongings.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene, observed as thick smokes from the fire billowed into the atmosphere, while men of the Federal Fire Service battled to put out the fire. They later ran out of water.

A female resident said, “It was a small boy that was cooking noodles and there was kerosene in the kitchen. The boy may have forgotten he left the stove on. It was from there the fire started and spread to other buildings that night.”

Also, a male tenant said, “The money I was using for my business was in the house. Everything we had, including my husband’s documents, was destroyed.”

The owner of the property, Sylverline Kalagbor, described the incident as unfortunate and called for support from the government for the displaced residents.