Many houses burnt as fire razes university community in Benue

A fire outbreak in the Customary Court area of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Sunday burnt over a dozen houses.

The outbreak started at about 3pm after fire put to a refuse dump site spread to a thatched hut.

Unfortunately, a windstorm which began as it was about to rain spread the fire quickly to surrounding houses.

Efforts to put out the fire were unsuccessful before the arrival of the Benue State fire service.

The fire service succeeded in putting out the fire which by then had already consumed over a dozen apartments occupied by students of the Benue State University (BSU).

In some apartments, the students and members of the community succeeded in evacuating some of their properties. In some however, the occupants were yet to return from Sunday church service and thier entire properties were burnt.

While lamenting the disaster, a student whose room was burnt said she could only succeed in saving her credentials.

Property burnt in the disaster could not be quantified at the time of penning this.