Fire Guts Over 200 Shops at Makola Shopping Mall

Over 200 shops and makeshift structures at the Makola Shopping Mall in Accra were gutted by fire on Friday night, October 20, 2023. The fire started at around 11 pm and it took the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) four and half hours to bring it under control. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. There were no casualties. The Deputy Director, of Operations of GNFS, Chief Fire Officer, Kofi Forson said that the fire personnel had a distress call around 11:24 pm and due to the proximity of the fire station to the mall, personnel quickly arrived at the scene in less than two minutes. Nine fire fighting appliances and 70 fire personnel were used to put out the fire and they were able to save over 2,000 stores including makeshift structures. The Greater Accra Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer(ACFO I) Roberta Aggrey-Ghanson explained that the cause of the fire is under investigation and that the explosions heard during the outbreak were a result of some cosmetic products that were exposed to excessive heat and burning during the fire. The Metropolitan Chief Executive of AMA, Elizabeth K.T. Sackey visited the Mall to ascertain the extent of damage and said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) would wait for a report from the GNFS to determine the next line of action. Source: DGN