Merchandise and cash were destroyed on Sunday night when fire gutted the Kumasi Central Market, destroying large quantities of cloths, footwear, cosmetics and unspecified amount of money.
The fire was said to have started at about 1900 hours at the part of the market, popularly referred to as “Bode”, where mainly cloths and footwear are sold. It took firefighters, backed by four fire tenders over four hours to put it out.
Criminals reportedly took taken advantage of the incident to break into and loot a number of items from the stores.
The cause of the fire, the second to have hit the market in 24 months, has not been established.
Maame Afia Boatemaa, one of the affected traders, could not hold back her tears as she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) about how the information had reached her an hour after it began and had rushed to the scene only to find her shop ruined.
The nature of the blazing fire made it difficult for anything to be salvaged. She said she was totally shattered because her business capital was gone.
Another victim, who gave her name only as Alice, appealed to the government for support them to enable them to get back into business.
The Ashanti Regional Fire Officer, Mr Philip Aheng-Mensah, told the GNA that the extent of damage could have been minimized but for the difficulty of getting access to that part of the market by the firefighters.
He said it was important that the Metropolitan authorities to did everything to make the market accessible for emergency services.
The Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang- Mensah, has toured the place to console the victims.
Source: GNA
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