Tragedy struck at a market in Road Block area of Akure, the Ondo State capital on Tuesday, following a fire outbreak that destroyed scores of shops which contained multi-million naira goods.
It was gathered that the incident happened in the morning when there was nobody around the area.
According to a source, some of the items destroyed by the fire included food items, barbing equipment, tailoring materials, among others.
The source said, “The fire incident started around 2am in the market and spread to the locked up shops in the market.
“We believe it was caused by power surge somewhere in the market, because there was no one around when it started.”
The source added that the fire would not have wrecked much havoc if the men of the Ondo State Fire Service had come on time after a distress call was put across to them.
Another source narrated that some of the affected traders had just stocked their shops in preparation for the Christmas period.
To this end, the affected traders have appealed to the state government and the National Emergency Management Agency to come to their aid.