5000 Lilongwe market merchants line up in stall ashes as head count for fire victims start

About 5000 merchants whose merchandise were gutted i a raging fire on Sunday morning, are on Monday standing in ashes, in what used to be their stalls as head count to identify real victims start.

Secretary for the market Daniel Kamala said the head count follows a succesful meeting the merchants had with cabinet ministers, government officals and Lilongwe City Council officials on Sunday.

“The head count is the best way to find out the real number of victims as the stall neighburs will assist in identifying each other,” he said.

Kamala said the head count will help government calculate how much it will be in compensatinlon for the fire victims at the market popularly known as Mpanimpani.

Vendors pelted stones at fire engines coming to extinguish the fire at 6 am as they thought the engines were just coming when the fire started at 3 am.

However it was learnt that the fire brigades earlier came to the scene two hours after the fire started but did not have enough water as well as fuel.

The market comprises sections of fish, hardware, electronic equipment, motorvehicle spare parts, clothes, tinsmith and tailoring shops among others.

Sharing is caring!