Parts of one of Ghana’s busiest trading centre, Makola is currently in flames as fire has gutted some of the building in the trading centre.
In a viral video sighted by the Vaultz News, the fire is seen emanating from some storey buildings opposite Georgina stores, closer to the Makola Shopping Mall 2.
In the video, traders and buyers transacting business are seen scrambling for their safety.
According to reports the cause of the fire still remains unknown. Also, its reported that officers of the Ghana National Fire Service who have been to the scene are making efforts to bring down the fire.
Update
Lack of water, cause of fire service delay
The Mayor of Accra, Muhammed Nii Adjei Sowah, speaking with the media said the issue for the delay of the National Fire Service was due to the shortage of water which was being called for.
“My information is that access to water has been the problem. So, at this moment I want us to focus of finishing the fire and when we finish, we can do an assessment of the situation and give a proper report on what has transpired.”
Muhammed Sowah
Touching on why the fire has taken such a long time to die out, he indicated that the very windy nature of the weather is why the fire keeps gushing out. He added that the fire service personnel who were fighting the fire were doing their best to put out the fire.
“It’s quite pathetic. I mean you can see the number of fire tenders. You can see more than five fire tenders here, that tells you that we are not short of equipment and the personnel to fight but I think that water has become an issue and we will deal with that.
“They had to go far, go to circle, Kaneshie to fetch water and come back all the time.”
Muhammed Sowah
He further indicated that there are water hydrants in the market since it is the central business centre of the region.
“There are water hydrants all over the market. We do not have water and that is the major problem.”
Muhammed Sowah
Congestion, making fire difficult to put off
Also speaking with the media, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana National Fire Service, Ellis Robinson Oko, said that seven fire tenders have so far been used in putting out the fire as at the time he was speaking with the media.
“We are still managing it. You see the place is very congested, we have to struggle with the onlookers and all.”
Ellis Oko
He further said their fire tenders contain a specific amount of water and that is the reason why more had to be called for.
“Our tenders contain 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water and by 8 minutes the water gets finished so you see them moving to and fro to ensure that there is water.”
Ellis Oko
He further assured the public that a proper assessment of the fire outbreak will be provided which will detail and assess the cause of the fire outbreak.
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