Fire outbreaks in Kumasi leave variety of property destroyed

A variety of property estimated at several thousands of Ghana Cedis have been lost as fire gutted some satellite markets in Kumasi on Sunday.

The unfortunate incidents, which occurred at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Alabar, had left traders dejected and counting the cost of the losses.

In the first incident, some section of a privately-owned mini-market, consisting of 10 metal containers and located behind the Republic Hall of the University, got burnt leaving in its wake the destruction to varieties of merchandise.

A statement issued by the University Relations Office, signed by Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe, the Officer-in-charge, and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), indicated that the incident occurred at about 1:30 am.

It said a fire tender stationed on the campus of the University was immediately dispatched to manage the situation, while the authorities evacuated to safety those students who were close to the fire scene.

“Management wishes to place on record that the Republic Hall was not affected by the fire.

“Again, Management wants to state that no student or item belonging to any student was affected by the fire,” the statement emphasized.

It entreated the general public to disregard the misinformation on social media purporting the death of 17 persons, including a porter at the Hall due to the incident.

The statement said the campus of the University was calm as students went about their routine activities peacefully.

Meanwhile, when the GNA visited Alabar, the scene of the second incident, some traders were still searching through the rubbles from the fire outbreak to salvage the few undestroyed items left behind.

“I am lost for words. Only God knows the future,” Alhaji Habib Mohammed, one of the affected traders, lamented in an interview.

The fire, according to the Ghana National Fire Service, was detected in the early hours of Sunday, destroying everything within its reach for several hours before it was brought under control.

The intensity of the razing fire was said to have collapsed a section of the storey building housing some units of stores, though there were no casualties.