No fewer than seven persons have sustained various degrees of injuries in a Thursday afternoon fire at a paint factory at Obosi, near Onitsha.
The management of the factory known as Citizens Paints said they had not yet ascertained the actual number of casualties as of the time of filing this report.
They, however, said all the injured persons, who were mostly employees of the factory, had been rushed to nearby hospitals for medical attention.
The company’s accountant, who identified himself simply as Smart, told journalists that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.
The actual cost of losses was not equally ascertained as at the time of this report.
It was also gathered that looters cashed in on the fire incident to steal products and other valuable property they found inside the compound during the raging inferno.
Employees were asked to go home for the day and report for duty the following.
In addittion, the warehouse section of the firm was razed before the arrival of men of the state fire service who quenched the fire before it could extend to other warehouses.
Some of the workers, who to spoke on anonymous condition, said the fire started with an explosion from the warehouse and burnt chemicals used in making paints and paint containers of various sizes before the arrival of the fire servicemen.
The Anambra State fire service chief, Mr Martin Agbili, said, “At about noon today, we received a distress call of a fire outbreak at Citizens Paint industry, Obosi. Our fire truck and firefighters were deployed immediately. The fire outbreak was fought to a standstill.
“The cause of the fire is still unknown until after a proper investigation. There was no loss of life but about four persons were injured and were taken to the hospital.”
