GhanaWeb's visit to the scene reveals, the fire which started around 8:00 pm on Sunday, April 18, 2021, quickly spread through other shops operated by cobblers at the market.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. Firefighters spent hours trying to bring the situation under control.
Persons whose shops were located close to the section of the market which caught fire rushed to the scene to salvage what they could.
According to an eyewitness, Alhassan Idris who spoke to GhanaWeb, he was asleep when he heard the fire outbreak.
“I was asleep when I heard of the fire outbreak at the Kumasi Central market. I rushed to the scene, and it was very terrible. So, I tried to help contain the fire, but things got difficult since the fire was so tense. As of the time I came to the market, I was desperate to help put out the fire, so I didn’t really ask for the cause.”
Meanwhile, Ashanti regional deputy commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, ACFO Henry Giwah who spoke to the media, complained about the tough time they had to face trying to access the fire scene.
"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 that were involved made it very difficult for us to quench the fire. When you put out the fire, before you realise, it has reignited due to the presence of those products”. He said.
He, therefore, advised that accessibility to places be made available always so that in case there's an emergency, servicemen can move with ease.
Checks further revealed that the last time a fire incident was recorded at the Kumasi Central Market was on July 30, 2020, which affected about fifty shops.
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