By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu, Kano
A massive fire on Wednesday afternoon destroyed more than 500 stalls at the popular Shuwaki Market in Gari Local Government Area of Kano State.
The inferno, which started around 3:25pm, spread rapidly through the market before firefighters arrived to contain it. The Kano State Fire Service said the blaze consumed about 529 out of roughly 1,000 temporary stalls within the 3,000 by 2,500-foot market.
Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the service, ACFO Saminu Yusif Abdullahi, said the control room received a distress call from Commander Abdulmalik Muhammad of the Gari Fire Station, and operatives from the Danbatta Fire Station were immediately mobilised.
He said the team succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading to nearby sections of the market, using one jet from Comm 9 during the operation.
Abdullahi linked the cause of the fire to the activities of suspected intoxicated residents within the market area.
While no lives were lost, the Fire Service urged traders and residents to adopt safer practices to prevent similar disasters in Kano’s busy markets.