At least four people were killed and a dozen more injured on Tuesday following a blast at a popular market in Nigeria’s south-eastern state of Anambra, Reuters has reported.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, who heads civil society group Intersociety was a witness at the incident, said the blast took place in a section of the market that sells chemicals, leading to a fire that razed some shops while “four people died and scores (were) injured.”

The Onitsha South local government area chairman Emeka Orji confirmed the death toll to reporters, adding that at least 12 people were injured as people stampeded to leave the market.

An Anambra state police spokesman said the casualty figure was unknown but the situation was under control while the state emergency management agency said it was investigating.

The Director/Fire Chief of Anambra Fire Services, Mr Martin Agbili, said that 80 shops were affected in the chemical market fire explosion. He said: ”It is really a terrible situation but the fire is under control now. The vibration from the explosions caused the collapse of some market buildings.

“A lot of safety measures have been taken to protect the entire market. There are casualties but we can’t ascertain the actual number of death and the injured.”