Eighteen shops at a popular commercial hub in Kumasi were destroyed by a Tuesday dawn fire outbreak.
No casualties were recorded but goods worth thousands of Cedis were destroyed in the fire, which started about 5:00AM from a shop within a Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly stores at Yaa Achiaa Lane.
The cause of the fire is not immediately known, but eyewitnesses’ account indicates there was a blackout in the area and just when power was restored, they saw billows from one of the shops and subsequently the fire.
The timely intervention of the Ghana National Fire Service averted the blaze from spreading to other buildings in the vicinity, which is close to some offices of banks and a Kumasi-based radio station, Solid FM.
Items destroyed included used clothing and generator sets.
TV3’s correspondent Benjamin Aidoo reported that it took the fire personnel about 30 minutes to control and extinguish the fire. He said the personnel had a difficult time because the shops were locked at the time.
The affected traders, he said, have appealed for support since most of them were working with a bank loan.
He said officials have declined to comment on the incident since investigations into the cause of the fire is yet to start.
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Minister, who visited the site early Tuesday morning, consoled the victim.
By: Stephen Kwabena Effah/editors.3news.com/Ghana
Twitter: @steviekgh
