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A little over 24 hours after fire gutted the Kantamanto Market in Accra, victims of the disaster yesterday started counting their losses. The scene at the market yesterday was akin to the funeral of a popular person, as victims of the fire and sympathisers poured out in their numbers to weep uncontrollably for the loss of their livelihoods. At the time of the fire last Sunday, many of the traders were out of Accra, but they besieged the scene of the fire yesterday in the hope of salvaging whatever was left unburnt. Unfortunately, there was nothing to salvage. That made many among them shed tears, while others snapped their fingers to show pain, with some throwing themselves on the ground to signify helplessness at the loss of their wares and, in some instances, money. Many of them claimed they had taken loans from the banks, loans and saving schemes and money lenders to invest in their businesses, only to lose everything overnight. One victim, Mr Divine Adam, said he had lost 47 bales of second-hand clothing, amounting to GH�70,500, to the fire. He said he was a wholesaler and, therefore, had many bales in stock, but all of them had gone up in flames. �l am supposed to pay my bank GH�37,000 at the end of June and l simply don�t know how I am going to do so now, since l have lost everything,� he said Another victim, a 42-year-old shop owner, Mrs Rebecca Marful, stood quietly with her arms folded, while tears streamed down her cheeks. She was with two of her children who sat down on the floor watching their mother weep. According to Mrs Marful, she had taken 30 crates of minerals, 14 cartons of milk, 80 bags of rice and large quantities of Indomie noodles, all amounting to GH�12,600, from one of her suppliers on Friday evening. �I only paid GH�2,000 and asked her to come for the remaining GH�10,600 in a week�s time, only for this misfortune to happen. Even the money l used as deposit was the school fees of my three children given to me by my brother,� she said as she broke down completely. Another victim, Madam Theresa Nyarko, 45, said she was devastated by the thought of having to refund GH�4,000 destroyed by the fire to a colleague trader. She claimed she had left the money in her shop a day before the incident �Even though l lost all my wares, including the new bed spreads and towels l bought for GH�2,800 on Wednesday, the thought of refunding GH�4,000 to my colleague hurts me so much. She will not even believe me if l tell her l left the money in my shop,� she said. The situation attracted a large crowd of onlookers, most of whom tried to console the victims. Some of the victims were seen busily going through the debris to see if they could salvage anything worth keeping. On Sunday, May 5, fire swept through the Kantamanto Market, destroying shops and stalls of about 800 people who do business at the place. Most of the shop owners said the incident signified a bleak future for them, as they had lost all their capital. High government officials who visited the scene included the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur; the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Alhassan, and the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuiye.