Reports of fire incidents have become a part of the news coverage calender just as other accidents like those on the roads and other natural disasters. When they happen in marketplaces, their impact is felt on lives and properties. Hardly a year passes without recording a fire outbreak in some parts of the major markets in Ghana, causing fear and panic among traders.
The most recent incident of a fire outbreak is the March 15, 2023 incident at the Kejetia market in the Ashanti Regional capital.
Properties worth thousands of cedis were destroyed by fire at the Kejetia Central Market in Kumasi, this was the second such inferno in the last few years.
GhanaWeb compiles two times fire has gutted the Kejetia market.
1. Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
Portions of the Kejetia Market was gutted by fire on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service were able to douse the inferno and prevented it from spreading to other properties.
Several properties worth thousands of cedis were destroyed by the fire.
Speaking to journalists at the time of the incident, the Managing Director of the market, Kofi Duffuor said “We are going to open the market tomorrow. We have to go back and test all the systems again.
“We are going to get the professionals, the fire service, the electrical engineers to come in and work with us and the security as well to ensure everything is in order after which we will open the market for people to come in,” he said.
2. March 15, 2023.
The market was spared an outbreak throughout 2022 until this week when the Ghana National Fire Service was called in to deal with an outbreak of fire at facility.
GhanaWeb sources confirmed that the fire started at Kejetia Dubai, where car tyres are sold. The fire according to reports started around 4:30 pm.
Personnel from the GNFS were quickly called to the scene to douse the inferno and rescue people from the parts of the building which was gutted by the fire.
GhanaWeb's reporter on the ground captured how a mother and baby collapsed due to the heavy smoke at the scene, whereas in another video, a woman also jumped out of the building to save her life.
Personnel from the Ambulance Service and the Ghana Police Service were also at the scene to offer support to the victims of the inferno.
The injured were transported to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Traders affected by the incident wailed while they tried to salvage as many items as they could.
Some affected traders who spoke to GhanaWeb's Ashanti Regional Correspondent at the time of the incident claimed that the escalation of the fire was attributed to the inability of fire officers to douse the fire on time.
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Kejetia fire outbreak