A devastating fire outbreak occurred on the busy Ugbowo-Lagos Road in Benin City, Edo State capital on Wednesday 24th April 2024, which left four shops in ruins.
The fire, Uptown Press gathered started in one of the shops dealing with Hospital and Laboratory equipment, and it quickly spread to the other shops in the building.
Despite the efforts of the Men of the Federal Fire Service, Edo State Fire Service, Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport Benin, the University of Benin Fire Service (UNIBEN), and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), the fire could not be contained.
Residents and shop owners in the area made frantic efforts to save their goods, but the intensity of the fire made it impossible. All four shops located directly opposite the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) were completely razed in the inferno.
Mr. Sunday Madubuko, who operates a Boutique in one of the affected shops, recounted his experience, stating that the fire started in the Laboratory Shop and quickly spread to his store.
Unfortunately, he lost goods worth over N20,000,000. The cause of the fire is yet unknown, and investigations are ongoing to unravel the mystery behind the fire outbreak
