Elig-Edzoa Market: Fire Razes Over 200 Shops

Traders of the Elig-Edzoa Market in Yaounde are still in shock after discovering that fire has destroyed a great portion of the market during the early hours of Monday, March 4, 2019. Eye witness account tells Cameroon Tribune (CT) the fire outbreak started at about 11:00 p.m on Sunday March 3.

It was only after the intervention of four different teams of Fire Fighters Brigade, that the fire was brought under control at 3:00 a.m on Monday March 4. According to an eye witness, Joseph Touko Mouaha, the fire outbreak started on a small scale.

But because the market is constructed with wood, the fire quickly moved from one shop to another. The first team of the Fire Fighters Brigade could not extinguish the fire due to its intensity. It was only after the intervention with water from four Fire Fighters Brigade trucks that the fire was brought under control.

Joseph Touko Mouaha said some brave boys had to climb up the roof of shops that were near the fire and destroyed them, in a bid to stop the fire from spreading further. It is at this point that the fire fighters could effectively use water to quench the fire. But before the fire was put out, over 200 shops had been destroyed.

Amongst which was a cold store, tailoring workshops, a warehouse of over 600 bags of second-hand dresses, warehouses of g...