70 cattle burnt to ashes in late night market fire in Kwara

Late Thursday night fire disaster at the popular Ipata main market in the Ilorin metropolis of Kwara State has reportedly burnt cows, rams, sheep and goats to ashes.

It was gathered that 15 cattle, 15 sheep, 15 huge rams, and more than 25 goats died and completely burnt to ashes in the inferno.

It was also gathered that the inferno emanated from the abandoned refuse burning, which later got agitated by the blowing wind and spread to the nearby ranch where some animals were kept.

According to the head of the department, Media and Publicity of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, who confirmed the incident, “three shops and an open big shed constructed with planks for goat sellers were destroyed by the inferno.”

He, however, said that more than 470 shops were saved from the ravaging fire by the firemen.

“The Fire Brigade was summoned to the vicious incident Thursday night at about 22:31hours through a telephone call by one Mr Lawal. Despite the intensity of the blazing fire, the firefighters were able to eliminate it on time and prevent it from spreading to the surrounding buildings in the market vicinity area,” he said.

Also, the Director of Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade Olumuyiwa, urged everyone to be more safety-conscious in their daily dealings in order to minimize frequent fire occurrences across the state.