Goods worth millions burned in Yei’s main market

Millions of pounds worth of goods are believed to have been reduced to ashes at the main Dar es Salaam market in Yei on Wednesday night.

There are dozens of vendors in the market, most of whom are engaged in food business. The cause of the fire is still unclear.

In an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Thursday morning, Yei River County Chamber of Commerce president Justin Luat said the amount of items burned was huge and the rescue efforts came too late.

“Some people responded but you know our fire brigade is not well equipped. They rushed to the city centre and tried their best to get to Yei town to get a bigger tanker but unfortunately, the tanker was empty and needed to be refilled. The whole process took a long time and by the time they arrived on the scene it was too late,” he said.

Luat said the total losses were high as the fire hit the market where goods arrived from different regions.

Fishmonger Nelson Tereka, who lost all his stock, urged the government to investigate the cause of the fire to avoid similar incidents in the future.

He said he received a call about a fire in the market at around 8pm but when he reached the spot, he found that he could not enter as the road leading to his stall was engulfed in flames and eventually all his stocks were burnt.

“I call on the government to investigate the cause of the fire so that similar incidents do not happen again in the future,” Treka said.

Another trader named Susan Kiden said she dealt in grains and onions and the accident caused her heavy losses and it would be difficult to restart her business.

“I don’t know what to do because everything is gone. The government should see what it can do to help us.”

Luat said the chamber would hold an emergency meeting to assess the damage and consider lobbying development partners for support.

“As a next step, we must hold an emergency meeting today and then form a committee to assess the damage and then formulate a plan to seek support from development partners, government and other supporters,” he said.

Yei River County Commissioner Agre Cyrus Kanyikwa said the incident had affected the lives of many people and the government would also suffer loss of revenue. He advised market operators to be more vigilant in the future.

This is the second such incident at the Dar es Salaam market. Last year, there was a fire at the market but the damage was minor.