Over twenty (20) shops at the Kumasi Central Market have been destroyed due to a fire outbreak late last night.
It is estimated that millions of Ghana cedis have been lost in damages by traders in the market.
Though the cause of the fire outbreak is still unknown, eye witnesses said it started around 8pm on Sunday, April 18 at one section of the market and it spread to the other areas.
An eyewitness, Alhassan Idris told Citi News that: “I was asleep when I heard of the fire outbreak at the Kumasi Central market. I rushed to the market, and it was true that there was a fire outbreak. So I tried to help to contain the fire. As of the time I came to the market, I was desperate to help put out the fire, so I didn’t really ask what caused it.”
ACFO Henry Giwah, the Ashanti Regional Deputy Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service who spoke to the media, complained about the challenges they faced trying to access the scene of the fire.
“We received a distress call around 8:48 pm that there was a fire outbreak at the Central market, so we quickly dispatched our men. When they arrived, they saw that the whole place had been engulfed by the fire, affecting about 27 shops. So they tried to confine it so that it would not spread further. Accessibility is always a problem here. It’s a big problem. The interference from the traders was not also good. Leather and turpentine products were involved so when you put out the fire, before you realise, it has reignited,” he said.
