Fire Guts Kumasi Central Market Again

The Kumasi Central Market has experienced the latest inferno when fire gutted the parts of the market early dawn on Sunday. The fire, which started at about 0200 hours at the second-hand clothing sellers� area popularly called �Foos Line�, spread to areas like �18� where cooking utensils and provisions are sold. Items running into millions of Ghana cedis were lost to the blaze. Mr Aheng Mensah, Deputy Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service Kumasi, told the Ghana News Agency that it took firemen from the Manhyia Division close to three hours to fight the fire. �Owing to the intensity of the fire, firemen from other stations in the metropolis have to be deployed to help to battle the fire,� he said. Initially access to the market was a problem but the reinforcement of more fire tenders and personnel from other stations, they were able to bring it under control. The cause of the fire is not immediately known. It was a pitiable sight to behold when the women whose wares had been destroyed by the fire wailed uncontrollably. Some of them in apparent desperation threw themselves to the ground and screaming helplessly. More than 200 policemen from the Ashanti Regional Police Command were on hand to provide maximum security and prevent looting by miscreants who wanted to take advantage of the situation.