No fewer than 40 batcher houses have been destroyed in a fire outbreak that swept through Onukwuru Street, off Rumuolumeni Road, also known as Iwofe Road, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, rendered several residents homeless as the inferno consumed their homes and personal belongings. Although the exact value of property destroyed could not be immediately ascertained, residents said millions of naira worth of valuables were lost in the fire.

Eyewitnesses attributed the outbreak to an alleged accident involving kerosene and an open fire.

According to accounts from the area, a woman was frying groundnuts with firewood when another woman attempted to pour kerosene from a jerrycan into a nearby basin.

It was learned that the woman frying the groundnuts reportedly warned her to wait until the firewood had been completely extinguished before handling the kerosene. The warning was allegedly ignored.

As the kerosene was being poured, it reportedly caught fire, triggering a blaze that rapidly spread from one makeshift structure to another.

Residents made desperate attempts to put out the flames and prevent the fire from spreading further, but the highly combustible materials used in constructing the batcher houses made it difficult to contain the inferno.

Meanwhile, at the scene, affected residents were seen rummaging through the charred remains of their homes, salvaging whatever belongings survived the fire, while others stood helplessly over the debris.

For many of the victims, the immediate challenge is where to spend the night after losing virtually everything they owned.

One of the displaced person lamented: “Everything I have laboured in Port Harcourt has gone. Where do I start from? No place to lay my head?” However, there is no deaths were reported as of the time of filing this report. (The Guardian)