From Desmond Mgboh, Kano

ANOTHER tragic fire has engulfed the famous Sabon-Gari Market (Muhammed Abubakar Rimi-­Market in the metropolitan area of Kano State, destroying property worth millions of naira
and ruining the business of many families in the ancient city.
The fire outbreak, which has so far affected about half of the market was first noticed at around midnight and was still raging as at 10.30am on Saturday morning.
By press time, many portions of the market had been burnt by the fire with the worst hit being the shops located along D-Line (which consists of drug and medicine dealers);; C-­ Line (housing shoes dealers) down to M-­ Line, L-­ Line (which were mainly
cosmetics and fabric shops)
Also affected by the fire were some shops where gold, ceramic plates, bicycles were sold.
A place of worship, Abacha Mosque, which was located inside the market, as well as a branch of First Bank Plc located in the market was also affected.
Sunday Sun observed that thousands of traders, including those whose shops were yet to be affected, were struggling to salvage their goods from the market.
Water tanks belonging to the Kano State Fire Service, though very late before showing up, were noticed trying to stop the spread of the fire. They were complimented by water tanks from the Nigeria Air Force, 303 Brigade, Kano and some private organizations including W J Bush and co whose tanks have made several stops.
Several victims of the tragic disaster fainted apparently from shocks.
Among them was a pregnant woman whose husband’s shop was razed by the fire and another victim, who was said to have left a huge amount of money in his shop over the night.
Newly appointed Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Muhammed Mustapha Riwanu told Sunday Sun that they dispatched a total of eight vehicles to fight the fire in the market, adding that the fire started in the middle of the night.
He explained that the fire started from the shoe area from where it spread to the rest of the market even as he acknowledged that the fire has so far affected a sizable portion of the market.
He disclosed that they suspected the fire was caused by electric sparks, and added that, it was yet early to estimate the loss as the operation to put out the fire was still going on.
Kano State has suffered outbreaks of several fire inciden the in last few months.
Just a few months back, the wood section of the same market
was gutted by fire which destroyed millions of naira worth of property.