Market Fires: American experts to deliver report in two weeks

The two-member American forensic expert team that was invited by the government to unravel the mystery behind recent fire disasters will deliver its report to government in a fortnight.

TV3's Komla Klutse, who was at the head office of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), says that unconfirmed reports suggest that the team has blamed the cause of the fires on engineering lapses and malfunctioning fire hydrants at the markets.

Chief Fire Officer Brigadier General John Bosco Guyiri was tight-lipped on the findings of the American team, promising to make the details known if he gets a copy.

He said that the team was in Ghana just for 'a second opinion' investigation.

Personnel of the GNFS had attributed the cause of most of the market fires to poor wiring but had not ruled out arson.

'Market mice'

Some traders at the Mallam Atta Market in Accra also attributed the cause to market mice, which they said chew the cables making them delicate and reactive to the least combustion.

They, therefore, appealed to the government to provide them with pesticides rather than expending foreigners to unravel the cause.

Four major markets tumbled down to market fires in the first half of this year with about 4,500 traders fallen victims.

They have been given GH¢2 million by government as compensation.