Five more persons have died as a result of the fire outbreak recorded at Kubwa village market in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory last Friday, bringing the death toll to 10.
While five persons reportedly died on the day of the incident, five others were said to have died on Saturday at the hospital where they were receiving treatment.
The Director-General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency, Abbas Idriss, disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement by the agency’s acting Head, Public Relations Unit, Ngaha Faustina.
The statement listed a pregnant woman and two children of the same family as among the latest casualties, adding that 11 persons are still at the hospital receiving treatment.
The statement was titled ‘Kubwa fire: FEMA cautions residents.’
It read, “Idriss stated that several people sustained different degrees of burns, and were receiving treatment at the Kubwa General Hospital and some were later referred to National Hospital following the directives of the Minister of State (FCT), Dr. Ramatu Aliyu, after a visit to the hospital to commiserate with the people.
Read Also:
“He revealed that five lives were lost on the day of the fire incident, while five more were lost the following day at the National Hospital, bringing to a total of 10 lives lost.
Among those that lost their lives include a pregnant woman, and two children of the same family with 11 still at the hospital.
“Idriss called for the need for sellers of flammable materials to be segmented outside the markets, adding that it will go a long way to prevent fire outbreaks in the market.
The Director General further tasked the Abuja Market Management Authority Limited to implement the fire code that stipulates among other requirements that public and private buildings should install smoke detectors and fire alarms, and to also ensure the market has at least a fire hydrant, hose reel and other fire equipment at strategic points.”
“He also urged traders to desist from dispensing fuel from surface tanks to avert recurrence.”
Meanwhile, the FCT Administration on Tuesday demolished illegal motor parks and shanties in Zuba, a suburb of Abuja.
According to the taskforce, the parks and makeshift shops were constituting security threats to residents.
