Fire guts parts of the Koforidua Central Market

Fire has gutted parts of the Koforidua Central Market with several stores suffering varying degrees of damage.

According to the New Juaben South Municipal Fire Service, the fire outbreak which began at 4:50 AM today (July 22, 2020) lasted three hours and destroyed 40 shops.

The destroyed property included 25 stores which were totally burnt, five partially burnt stores, nine burnt wooden structures, and one metal container at the food stuff lane of the market.

Investigation

The Municipal Fire Commander, Divisional Officer III Ayitey Brown Ocquaye said investigations were still ongoing but preliminary information suggests that a faulty electrical system was the source of the fire outbreak.

He added that several electric wires in the market would need to be replaced because they were discovered to have been exposed by the fire after it was extinguished.

He also urged the appropriate authorities to make demarcations in the market to allow easy accessibility in the event of a fire outbreak.

Observation

During a visit to the affected parts, the Daily Graphic observed that foodstuffs such as bags of rice, beans, maize, and other cereal and millets were severely burnt in the affected shops.

Other food items such as tomato pastes and cooking oil were also destroyed by the outbreak.

Aside the affected shops, some minor damages were also seen at some tailoring shops within the enclave that was gutted by the fire.

Some affected customers who spoke to the Daily Graphic, lamented the damage with some wailing about how to repay loans taken from banks for their business.