Mahama Demands Probe

PRESIDENT JOHN Dramani Mahama has ordered for a thorough investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the blazing inferno, which gutted a big market at Adum in Kumasi, and rendered hundreds of victims jobless.

The early Friday morning dangerous blaze, flattened uncountable number of shops, most of whom are wooden shops, and destroyed all the valuable and expensive items that were being stored in them by their owners.

Few hours after the announcement of the fire outbreak, President Mahama rushed to the fire scene to, at first hand, witness the level of destruction caused and also to console the hundreds of victims.

In his brief remarks after he had inspected the damaged area, the president entreated the appropriate state institutions and stakeholders to quickly commence their investigations into the inferno.

He said the findings of the investigators would help to avert reoccurrence of fire in the market in the near future, adding that traders should desist from cooking in the market as it can also lead to fire outbreaks.

Meanwhile, before the investigators come out with their findings, most the affected traders have blamed the intermittent power cuts in Kumasi nowadays popularly known as ‘Dumsor’ as the cause of the fire.

According to them, before the fire started around 4:30am on Friday, the market, popularly known as the ‘Blue Light’, had suffered a number of unstable power supply so they believe Dumsor started the flames.

In related development, the firefighters struggled before they could get access to the Blue Light area, which has been poorly planned and structured, thereby making it impossible for cars to move there.

Since there are no roads in the market, the firemen could not drive their huge cars to where the fire was intense. This unfortunate situation accounted for the massive destruction that was caused the blazing fire.

According to eyewitnesses reports, by the time the firemen eventually got access to the fire, most of the shops and the things that were stored in them, had already been consumed by the fire into ashes.

Meanwhile, some of the affected traders were seen cursing their stars and crying out loud over their misfortune. Some of the affected traders even threatened to commit suicide to end it all.

In a related development, the policemen, who were called to the fire scene, did well to arrest number of thieves, who rushed to the fire scene just to take advantage of the situation and steal from shops.

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, has incurred the wrath of firemen in Kumasi, after he openly accused them of dragging their feet in dealing with the Friday’s fire outbreak.

In response to his outbursts, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) is said to have demanded an apology from him, since they (GNFS) see his remarks as disrespectful, unfair, demoralizing and unfortunate.