Huge blaze destroys Ghana's largest used clothes market
Ghana's informal economy suffered an enormous blow after a fire engulfed the Kantamanto used clothes market late Wednesday, displacing thousands of traders and destroying goods worth millions of the local cedi currency.
A raging inferno that swept through the bustling Kantamanto Market in the Ghanaian capital Accra has reduced the sprawling hub of the country's informal economy to ashes, officials said.
The fire, which erupted late on Wednesday, consumed vast sections of the largest used clothes market in the West African country, displacing thousands of traders, disaster officials said.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) deployed 13 fire tenders to put out the flames. But on Thursday morning, ruins smouldered where rows of stalls once bustled with activities.
Goods worth millions of the local cedi currency have been destroyed, the GNFS said.
"This is devastating," said Alex King Nartey, a GNFS spokesperson. "We've not recorded severe casualties, but the economic loss is enormous."
"Preliminary investigations suggest faulty electrical connections might have sparked the blaze, although we are not ruling out arson," Nartey told AFP.
He added that efforts to completely extinguish the fire could stretch into Friday.
'Everything I own'
Hundreds of traders, many specialising in the resale of used clothes, now face an uncertain future.
For traders like 45-year-old Fred Asiedu, the fire is a life-altering disaster.
"Everything I own was here -- my wares, my savings, my future. Now, it's all gone," Asiedu said.
(AFP)
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