Kumasi-Ghana Dec. 18, GNA – A blazing fire on Monday morning, swept through parts of the Racecourse Market in Kumasi, destroying merchandize running into millions of Ghana cedis.
The deadly fire, according to eyewitnesses, affected about 70 shops, which have many items in stock.
The fire, according to some of the affected traders, started from one of the shops around 0700 hours Monday morning, and later spread to other shops, destroying wares.
Though the cause of the fire was still not known at the time of filing this story, some of the traders suspected it might have come from the shop of one trader who was cooking at that time with a gas cylinder.
One of the victims told the Ghana News Agency that, she had lost about GHC 100,000.00 worth of goods to the fire.
“I deal in clothing and pomades, my wholesale shop which I restocked on Friday and all the items have been ravaged by the fire causing major financial burden to my business, “she stated.
Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service, who rushed to the scene had a hectic time putting the fire under control.
Mr Henry Giwah, Ashanti Regional Fire Commander told journalists, five fire tenders were dispatched to the scene immediately they received the information on the incident.
He however, pointed out that, lack of fire hydrant in the market made it difficult for them to get access to water to control the fire.
“We must deploy five fire tenders, because of lack of hydrants at the facility.
“We could have stopped the fire immediately if there were water hydrants available at the market,” he told reporters.
Mr Giwah confirmed that there had not been any casualty at the scene, saying the Service had commenced investigations to identify the cause of the fire outbreak.
