Kokompe destroyed – 450 spare parts stalls, 40 cars burnt

An inferno engulfed the Kokompe Market at Darkuman in Accra, reputed for the sale of spare parts and the repair of vehicles, last Friday, destroying about 450 spare parts stalls, 40 vehicles and other properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

The cause of the fire is not yet established, but some eyewitnesses attributed it to negligence of on the part of some people who burnt rubbish behind a wooden structure and failed to put out the fire.

Meanwhile, one person has been arrested by the Odorkor Police on suspicion of being responsible for the fire outbreak.

As of press time yesterday, some media reports indicates that one person had died during the incident, but officials of the Ghana Fire Service (GNFS) could not confirmed that.

The fire outbreak, which is said to have started from a store around 9pm, quickly extended to other stalls as a result of the presence of combustible materials, reducing property in the area to ashes.

Responding to emergency calls, the GNFS quickly deployed 15 fire engines from Accra, Winneba and Tema to put out the fire but not a single property could be salvage.

A dealer in Mercedes Benz home-used spare parts, Mr Eric Agyemang-Dua, said a consignment of goods worth GH¢50,000 had been delivered to him last week but he lost everything in a matter of one day.

“My brother, I have lost all that I worked for. Goods worth GH¢50,000 were delivered to only last week but everything is gone,” he lamented.

The story told by a dealer in Nissan body parts, Mr Yaw Asiedu, was not different as he claimed to have lost goods value at GH¢20,000.

Responding to appeals by the victims to the government, Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, assured them of the government’s preparedness to provide them an alternative place where they could resettle to carry on their legitimate business.

Meanwhile, the GNFS has initiated investigations into the cause of the fire.

Source: Daily Graphic