Moses Okwemba, a victim whose house was razed in the inferno, said he was awakened by the screams-but it was already too late to save anything.
"I was deep asleep. I woke up when smoke had already engulfed the entire neighbourhood, and I couldn't salvage anything," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"I managed to rescue my four family members. They are all safe." Okwemba said he witnessed eight fatalities, four of them from a single family.
"My two neighbours also got injured and were rushed to hospital," he added.Another resident, who requested anonymity, said she witnessed four deaths and recognised some of the deceased as her relatives.
"Among those who died are family members. Some were siblings-a brother and a sister," she said.
Some residents attributed the blaze-which is believed to have consumed around 40 houses-to an electric cooking coil that may have exploded.
"I'm certain one of us had woken up to prepare breakfast using a coil, which unfortunately exploded," said Abdul, noting that many residents in the area rely on electric coils for cooking. They also accused Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration of laxity, even during emergencies such as fire outbreaks.
"The first fire engine arrived at around 5 am-but it came without water. Others followed minutes later. Most of the firefighting was done by the residents themselves," said Okwemba.