Fire razes down Aboabo market in the Northern Region

Dozens of shops have been burned down at the Aboabo Market in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale.

Major shops like the Ganorma Agro Chemical Store in the Tamale Metropolis, worth millions of Ghana Cedis were also destroyed in the fire.

According to some eyewitnesses, the fire started around 5 am on Saturday January 29 from one of the wooden shops and spread to other structures containing agrochemicals.

Officials from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) arrived on the scene to douse the fire, with difficulty.

Investigations have however began to ascertain the cause of the fire.

The acting Public Relations Officer  for GNFS in the Northern Region, Assistant Divisional Officer Grade 2 Baba Hudu, said the timely intervention by his men helped curtail the fire. He says it could have been worse.

“We had a distressed call at about 5:15 am on Saturday reporting a fire outbreak at Tamale Aboabo market. So, we quickly dispatch our men into the scene. But upon observation of the fire, we had to call for three more fire tenders making it four tenders plus a private water tank to be able to fight the fire.

The acting PRO further called on the people within the area to be abreast with and adhere to basic fire safety precautions to help curtail fire outbreaks.

“We experienced this type of fire today because people failed to adhere to our advice,” he said.

Dozens of traders in the market have been affected and are pleading for help.

By: Simon Unyan