By John S Conteh in Falaba
Properties worth hundreds of millions of Leones were last Saturday 15th January destroyed by a fire outbreak at a popular commercial area called Cow Yard in Yogomaia locality in the Sengbeh Chiefdom, Koinadugu District. The fire reportedly broke out between 9 and 10 am, but what caused it was yet to be confirmed. Among the structures destroyed in the blaze were three main shops dealing in electronics and mobile phones.
Cow yard is known to be a very busy place that serves as a transit point for Timber carrying Lorries from villages in both Koinadugu and Falaba districts, headed for Freetown.
Mohamed Shaw, one of the affected retail shop owners engaged in selling foodstuffs and other commodities told Politico that he lost over one hundred million Leones worth of goods. He was at a loss as to what caused the fire.
Unisa, one of the wholesale Orange product traders in the area and also timber dealer claimed he lost about six thousand dollars worth of properties. Weeping, another businesswoman Aminata Barrie said her shop was razed to the ground.
Onlookers some of whom tried to put out the blaze criticized the Koinadugu District Council for lack of a standby Fire Engine to address fire incidences in the district. Youths around the area embarked on using sand and water in an effort to stop flames from spreading to other buildings.
There have been speculations that bad electrical wiring linking power from a huge generator supplying buildings could have been responsible. Sources claimed that the fire first broke out from a freezer in one of the shops and eventually spread to nearby structures.
A Census enumerator Karefa Saccoh was said to have lost in the fire, one of the official gadgets assigned to him by Statistics Sierra Leone.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (19/01/22)
