Residents of Douglas Street in Calabar municipality of Cross River state capital are still in shock and anguish over the devastating fire that ravaged ten apartments in the area.

Orient Weekend gathered that the inferno razed the houses, consumed everything occupants toiled for, including certificates, household wares, equipment and appliances like television sets, chairs, beddings, clothing, kitchen utensils and many other materials.

It was gathered that the fire broke out at around 8 am on Wednesday and within minutes, had razed down everything on its path. The cause of the disaster could not be immediately ascer­tained but unconfirmed reports attributed it to electrical malfunc­tioning. Speaking, a victim of the disaster, Ekpenyong who emoted uncontrollably said, “How do I be­gin life now? I have lost everything I laboured for. After almost sixty years of my life and struggling hard to buy those things during very difficult moments, everything just went down the drain within few minutes.”

Ekpenyong, flanked by his wife, Arit, and three other children, called on the Cross River state government to come to their aid. According to him, “we do not even have where to put our heads, clothing or anything to fall back on. I cannot now imagine myself pack­ing to village or going to neighbours to beg for survival.”

Speaking on the cause of the inferno, an eyewitness, who did not want his name in print, said “some­one went to change the light, and mistakenly fixed it into the wrong cutout and when they brought power, it sparked and everywhere started burning.”

Ntui, another resident of the area, told reporters, “the incident started very fast and many apart­ments were gutted as occupants of other ones attempted to get their belongings out. Some couldn’t finish before the wildfire invaded and engulfed theirs too. It was a sad incident at this time of the year. I don’t know how they’ll cope as many have lost most of their valuable things.

https://orientdailynews.com.ng/news/anguish-fire-consumes-houses-calabar/





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