A fire outbreak has destroyed the Sabuwar Lale furniture market located in Tal’udu, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

Eyewitnesses said the fire started at about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday and spread rapidly across the market, burning many shops before officials of the Kano State Fire Service arrived.

One of the affected traders, Bashir Ustaz, said he was shocked when he arrived at the market and found his shop completely destroyed.

“Around 3 a.m. I was called and told that fire had broken out at the market. When I arrived, what I saw made me close my eyes. Everything I owned was destroyed by the fire,” he said.

He added that just a day before the incident, the market was very busy and crowded, but by morning, everything had been reduced to ashes.

The Vice Chairman of the market, Adamu Mansur, popularly known as Madaki, said the fire started around 2:30 a.m. and raged till dawn.

“The fire was burning from about 2:30 a.m. until morning. We pray that Allah replaces our losses with something better,” he said.

Madaki explained that the traders could not yet estimate the total value of their losses, but said some individual shops lost furniture worth millions of naira.

“In my own shop, I had over 40 sets of furniture to be delivered today. Four sets alone were worth more than N5 million, and three others were worth over N4 million,” he added.

He called on the Kano State Government and well-meaning individuals to assist the affected traders, considering the scale of the losses.

Reports indicate that at least 11 permanent shops and about 20 temporary structures were completely burnt.

Firefighters battled the fire for several hours before they brought it under control after the early morning prayers.

Although no lives were lost, traders said the fire had cut off their main source of livelihood.

The Kano State Fire Service had not issued an official statement on the cause of the fire as at the time of filing this report. (Weekend Trust)