I. Coast: Biggest market burnt down

  1. Posted on Tuesday 2 February 2010 - 09:15
    Selay
    Image of Selay
    Photo and story: Selay Marius Kouassi, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    The biggest second hand market - 'Adjame Black Market' - in Abidjan, the capital city of Ivory Coast, was razed down early Saturday morning at about 5:00 am causing extensive damage to hundreds of shops where you can get textiles, clothes, computers, Freezers, mobile phones, building materials, carpentry and handcrafts.
    fire in Ivory Coast
    It is a sight visited daily by residents of Abidjan and visitors to purchase items that are to be found in this place only from the Western countries.

    Our reporter said authorities in Abidjan have given no concrete reason for the cause of the fire, which started in one of the stores at the center of the market believed to be containing high flammable materials. It is not clear what caused the fire but what is clear so far is that ‘Adjame Black Market’ commonly known as ‘the Black’ is a hip of ashes after it was gutted by fire.

    All the stalls plus items which consisted among others second hand materials were burnt down to ashes. Over 8,000 traders are believed to have lost their goods worth hundreds of millions of CFA in the process, but no deaths were registered.

    According to Toure Yacouba, a spokesman for the traders, who spoke to AfricaNews at the scene, “when the fire started, some of the traders who live close to this business hub rang the fire brigade first and started to stop the fire with buckets of water, but it spread so fast that nothing could be salvaged.”

    No water

    The fire department is a stone throw away from ‘the Black’, in Adjame District, but they had no water at the time the fire was spreading to the entire market. It took the ‘fire soldiers’ to drive to ‘the grande mosquee’, hundreds of meters close to the market, to fill their tank before visiting the scene.

    The local people are suspicious that the authorities might be involved in the incident as the fire comes on the heels of the ‘Abobo’ and ‘Cocody’ markets being burnt down last year.

    “I see things and I can hardly explain how it comes that fire brigade has no water in their tank […].’ said Samiru Ololade, a trader who was mourning the loss of his entire property, before hundreds of sympathizers gathered to witness what was Abidjan's most popular second hand market in ashes.

    Riot police were deployed in the neighborhood of ‘Adjame Black Market’ as the traders were becoming violent after the loss.

    Watch video on the market

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