Fire guts Marché de la Gare in New-Bell, Douala

Two block sheds and their contents (cosmetics and edible oils) have been lost in the incident.

Hordes of various goods including hundreds of litres of palm and groundnut oils, body oils, perfumes, clothes and condiments have been reduced to ashes following a fire outbreak at Marché de la Gare in New-Bell, Douala, Sunday.

The inferno, whose cause is yet unknown, is said to have emanated from a neighbouring cosmetic shop at about 3 am on Sunday. It crossed over to one other shop and razed down its contents and the roofs.

Smoke from the inferno tainted stocks of rice and flour in other shops which were not particularly concerned with the fire. According to Ndjamen Thomas, water from extinguishers used on the occasion by Ngodi Fire Fighters also spoiled a good quantity of flour in other sheds.

It was thanks to the prompt intervention of the Ngodi Fire Brigade that the fire was stopped from ravaging other shops of the jampacked market. Njamen Thomas, a victim, said it is hard to estimate the cost of the losses because the two shops concerned served as storage facility where merchandise were kept in the night and collected in the morning by many traders of the market.