About 15 traders and artisans were feared dead as fire gutted the popular Onitsha drug market, popularly known as Ogbogu International Market, Bridge Head, Onitsha on Tuesday.
The inferno, which started at about 12 noon, destroyed goods and buildings worth over N10 billion according to a trader in the market, Mr Amobi Okanume.
Okanume, who said that the cause of the fire was unknown, said it was the first time the market was suffering a fire disaster.
According to him, the fire had caused a lot of damage before the arrival of fire fighters from Onitsha and neighbouring Asaba in Delta State.
Another trader in the market simply called ‘Ozigi’, claimed that the fire started when an explosion occured in one of the buildings at the Chemical Line of the market.
