Police pick up 33 suspects over Kumasi market fires

The police have arrested a total of 33 suspects said to have started the weekend's market fires at Asafo and the central market in Kumasi.

Some eyewitnesses claimed they saw some of the suspects throwing "fire bombs" into the Asafo market, a police source has hinted Graphic Online.

Member of Parliament for the Subin constituency had described the fire as strange.

“My initial reaction is one of sadness, especially with Easter celebrations going on,” Eugene Antwi told Luv FM’s Erastus Asare Donkor on the Super Morning Show Monday.

What caused the blaze, which initially began on Friday, is “quite strange,” Antwi acknowledged, but he suspects that outdated equipment could have been a contributing factor.

His solution is to work with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to provide 24-hour security for the market. “That is the only way to counter such fires,” he said.

For three consecutive nights, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Asafo market and the Kumasi Central market were gutted by fire.

That of the Asafo Market happened on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday night following a similar incident at the Kumasi Central market on Friday night.

Property worth thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed by the fires which all happened at night.

Surprisingly, it was the third night that Kumasi was witnessing successive market fires on Easter.