VIDEO: Fire rages Calabar mall

A major fire broke out at the SPAR Mall in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, on Saturday morning, gutting the popular shopping mall according to multiple eyewitness videos circulating on social media. The videos depict thick black smoke and intense flames as panicked onlookers and distressed shop owners gathered outside the burning complex, with one witness stating, "It’s moving from shop to shop."

Concerns over the perceived delay in emergency response were voiced, with shop owners watching helplessly as goods worth millions of naira were destroyed. Despite the chaos, subsequent footage showed a fire truck and police personnel arriving at the scene to restore order, manage crowd control, and battle the inferno. The cause of the fire remains undetermined, and as of the time of filing, there were no official statements from the Cross River State Government or local emergency management authorities regarding casualties, structural integrity, or the extent of financial losses.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.