[VIDEO] Calabar mall fire: Trader narrates how blown bulb, power fluctuation preceded inferno

August 23, 2026 9:17 am

A trader at the Spar shopping mall in Calabar, Cross River State, has recounted the horrifying moment fire razed the popular shopping complex.

The distraught trader, in an interview with TVC News posted via YouTube on Saturday, said the fire started the previous night before signs of danger became obvious to shop owners and tenants.

“I am a victim, oh, I am a victim, I am a victim. My husband’s shop is already down. I don’t know the fate of my own. I don’t know. I don’t know the fate of my own,” she lamented.

According to her, the first indication of trouble came when a bulb blew in her shop, releasing smoke that prompted her to alert the mall’s maintenance team.

“The fire started yesterday night before I left. My bulb blew and we saw smoke and I called the maintenance team. They came and switched something off and they said they would do something this morning,” she said.

She said complaints about power fluctuations soon began trailing in from other tenants on the mall’s shared platform, with many, including herself, flagging the development before the situation escalated into a full-blown fire outbreak.

“On our tenants’ platform, people started complaining that their shops were having fluctuation of lights and I equally dropped my own — that our shop, we don’t know what is happening,” she said.

The trader said she was at a church service when she received the devastating news that the fire had spread into the mall.

“Only for me to be called from the church this morning; the fire have entered the mall,” she said.

Another source at the scene commended the swift intervention of firefighters and security operatives, saying their prompt response prevented the situation from degenerating further and forestalled looting by suspected criminals and vandals.

“I want to thank our firefighters for coming to the rescue because what we’re having here would have escalated more than this, but not for their prompt response. And most importantly, the security agencies, because we discovered that criminals, vandals wanted to take over the venue and begin looting,” the source said.

Watch Video Here:

[𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎] 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐛, 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨

Credit: YouTube | TVC News
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Faith Alofe

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