A late night fire has gutted leather products, raw materials and machines estimated at over N3 billion in Aba, Abia State.
The fire affected over 30 shops at the Mansion Zone block of Powerline Leather Products Industrial Cluster on Saturday.
Chairman of the affected block in the industrial cluster, Ugochukwu Nwachukwu, said over 500 workers were employed in affected shops.
Nwanchukwu said though the Abia Fire Service arrived from Umuahia about an hour after the fire started adding that their efforts helped to douse the inferno.
Cherechi Ndukwe, a victim, said he rushed to the scene after a call about the incident.
“We made frantic but unsuccessful efforts to douse the inferno with buckets of water before the arrival of the men of Abia Fire Service from Umuahia. The fire service men arrived some minutes past 11 p.m. to help us douse the raging fire,” he told NAN.
Ndukwe appealled for immediate help to the affected victims, as the incident has put their businesses, families, and employees in jeopardy.
“It will be very difficult to survive without the support of Abia and federal governments,” he added.
A former chairman of the Omenka Shoemakers Association, Powerline Zone, Goodluck Mmeri, expressed disgust that miscreants capitalised on the situation to steal some of the materials and machines.
Similarly, Okechukwu Williams, the president of the Leather Product Manufacturers Association in Abia, lamented the huge losses suffered by traders in the face of the current harsh economic situation.
