Fire destroys shops at Mallam Atta market [Photos]

Fire on Tuesday demolished portions of the Mallam Atta market near Accra Newtown.

The inferno, the first in that particular market, started at about 2:30pm, but was swiftly extinguished following the quick response of personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service.

Five shops made of metal and wood, which were mainly stocked with bags of maize, sugar and other food items were destroyed.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NXIfNFsQXcSZg32ABdAUc2MR9V3QrsKs”]One of the affected traders told Citi News she has lost about 30 bags of maize in the fire.

“I had about 30 bags in the container shop and that will cost me so much. I don’t know what I am going to do now except God comes to my rescue” she lamented.

Another trader, Mary Kumah, told Citi News her palm oil shop has been destroyed.

“We were in the container and then we heard a loud sound. Few minutes later we realized the faire had entered our room so we had to run away for our lives. I don’t know how the fire started”.

It is unclear yet what may have started the fire but some traders are attributing it to an electrical fault.

An eyewitness, Obed Kumi, who spoke to Citi News, said the damages could have been worst but for the swift intervention of firefighters.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Mallam Atta Market, Abdullah Mohammed Jamal, in an interview with Citi News partly blamed the fire on some persons who sell petrol, diesel and Kerosene in the market.

“They have been selling these things here for about two to three years now but anytime we approach them they fight with the leadership of the market. But now that we have experienced this fire incident we are going to fight them” he noted.

An official of the GNFS, Station Officer Michael Adesu, told Citi News they are yet to establish the exact cause of the fire.

Market fires in Ghana have become a common occurrence.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/Citifmonline.com/Ghana