Contributed by Nkafu Gabriel

Traders at the famous Marchѐ Mboppi (Mboppi Market) in the Douala II municipality are in tears again. A devastating fire incident that started at about 8PM local time in the night of Monday November 11, 2019 has ravaged over 20 shops at Marchѐ Mboppi.

The fire that started at a particular section spread further to several other stores, consuming goods such as kitchen utensils, chemicals and cosmetic products. All the affected shops were completely reduced to ashes and the damage is estimated at millions of FCFA. The fire also brought down an electric poll, disconnecting cables.

Though the firefighting unit arrived the scene late, they were able to finally put out the flames. According to a member of the firefighting team, Afuh Hansel, their late arrival was due to the difficulty they faced in accessing the area. “The time we used in overcoming the obstacles on our way is the time that we would have used to put out the fire” he added.

Mr. Afuh declared that over 20 shops were ravaged by the inferno, though a victim had earlier said over 40 shops were consumed. The exact cause of the devastating incident has not been established but victims are blaming the incident on the prolonged power outage in the area on Monday.

This is the third fire incident at the Mboppi market in just a year and in fact the second incident within a period of just two months. The most recent incident at that market occurred on Sunday September 22, 2019, destroying goods worth hundreds of millions FCFA. The incident was also blamed on persistent power outages.