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Traders count losses as fire guts Tororo market
Some of the traders and rescuers try comb through smouldering heaps of corrugated iron sheets for the remains of their merchandise. Photo by Joseph Omollo
What you need to know:
- The district police commander Superintendent of police Rogers Chebene said they were called at midnight and found civilians battling fire that had already burnt several stalls.
Tororo.
Several traders are in tears and counting losses after fire razed down stalls in Tororo market on Tuesday night.
The fire is reported to have started at around 11.30 pm and was still burning by 7am Wednesday as police continued to contain it.
Hundreds of traders watched from a distance as police fought the fire and deployed to block entry to the burning section of the market after thugs started taking advantage of the confusion to steal property that was being saved.
The extent of damage has not yet been established.
However, some traders told this publication that they lost goods worth millions of shillings and appealed to government through its ministry of disaster preparedness to come to their rescue.
‘’The extent of damage caused by this fire is big because some of the properties got burnt completely and this was my stock. I don’t have anything to start with. I was servicing a loan,’’ said one of the affected traders, Mr Ahmed Waiswa.
Mr Peter Langalanga Okolong, the chairperson of the market vendors and business association said the fire has greatly affected them because most of the traders had loans which they were servicing and majority had not insured their business.
‘’What you see burning is their capital and I am not sure that some of them will come back to business if no support is extended to them to resume business,’’ he said.
Traders in the other part of the market that was not affected resumed business as usual lauded police for the emergency response.
The fire engine reportedly arrived shortly after the inferno was reported though it was not able to rescue some of the merchandise.
The district police commander Superintendent of police Rogers Chebene said they were called at midnight and found civilians battling fire that had already burnt several stalls.
He said the cause of the fire has not yet been established but they have initiated an investigation.
He appealed to traders to always ensure that lit fires are put out as they close their business in the evening because in this case, there are possibilities that one of the traders left a burning charcoal stove since some of the traders reportedly cook near their stalls.
No injuries or loss of life was reported.
