450 shops destroyed by Odawna blaze
About 450 shops have been confirmed to have been ravaged by Wednesday night’s fire outbreak which swept through the Odawna market (pedestrian shopping mall) at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra.
It is still unclear what sparked the fire, but some traders told Class91.3FM’s Mercy Obeng-Akrofi in an interview on Thursday, 17 January 2019 that they suspect the blaze emanated from eateries within the market where food is constantly prepared with open fire.
Firefighters rushed to the scene to battle the inferno when they got SOS calls about it around 8 p.m.
Officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and fire officials are assessing the extent of the damage.
They intend shutting down the whole market until Monday, 21 January 2019 as part of measures to safeguard the shops and prevent people from looting.
However, the affected traders insist on entering the market to take pictures of the destruction so they can forward them to their creditors and banks where they took loans to invest in their businesses. Others also said they need the pictorial evidence to support their claim for insurance.
This is the fourth time that fire has ravaged the market. There are about 1,500 shops in the market.
Source: Class FM
