‘Wee smokers’ caused fire at Abossey Okai – NADMO

The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has said it suspects  Monday’s  fire at the Abossey Okai Spare Parts market in Accra was caused by arson.

The inferno, which started at about 8pm on Monday, destroyed about five shops and items worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

The Ablekuma Central Coordinator of NADMO, Farouk Mutachilu Mawunga says their preliminary investigations suggests that some “wee smokers” in the area caused the fire.

Probable causes

“The cause of the fire is not yet established but the rumours and speculations we are picking on the ground is that some wee smokers were behind the containers smoking and that could have been  one of the causes of the fire outbreak.”

“Other people are also of the view that the land is under despute to the extent that it is in the court for arbitration. So they are insinuating that probably an assailant might have intentionally come to the scene to spark fire,” he added.

Farouk Mutachilu Mawunga though conceded that investigations are not their core mandate, he said they will forward their recommendations to the security agencies for onward inquiries.

 “I think the security agencies would take up that challenge based on our recommendations.”