The lack of access to water in the central business district (CBD) of Accra was a major hindrance in battling Monday morning’s fire outbreak in a building at Makola in Accra.
Even though there are fire hydrants in the central business district, there was no water in them at the time of fighting the fire, according to the Mayor of Accra.
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He said the fire tenders which were mobilised for the fire fighting had to trek longer distances to refill at places such as Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
There were seven fire tenders at the scene of the fire and within eight minutes, their tanks were emptied and they had to go and refill.
Since there was no water in the hydrants in the CBD, they had to go to longer distances to refill.
The fire started in the three-storey building near the Makola Market around 9am.
The fire reportedly started in one of the top floors of the building.
The building houses different shops in the central business district (CBD) of Accra.
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Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) arrived at the scene in an attempt to douse the fire.
Supported by military, police personnel cordoned off the busy business district of Accra so as to give free access to the fire personnel to battle the fire.
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Some eyewitnesses close to the scene of the incident shared photos and videos of the fire outbreak on social media.