A devastating fire has ravaged several shops at Zongo Lane, near Rawlings Park in Accra.
The Sunday afternoon outbreak reportedly started from a small shop and quickly escalated to other structures, engulfing the entire building in thick black smoke.
The inferno rapidly reduced clothing, electronics, and other goods in the shops to ashes.
Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) who were called to the scene battled with the flames for a long while before bringing it under control.
According to Alex King Nartey, the Public Relations Officer of GNFS, their effort to douse the flames was prolonged by the explosions of gas cylinders in some shops.
“Our team upon arrival realised there was a fire involving a warehouse. To fight the fire, they had to get ECG to cut the power supply to the area. It took a while to cut the power. The problem is that accessibility was curtailed, even the stairs, leading to another floor were fortified with burglarproof and padlocks.
“To even get access to cut the fire from spreading to other floors were curtailed, because the padlocks and fortifications were too much. That’s what delayed and so we have to call our rescue team.
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“If you realise the kind of materials here, generators, gas cylinders, and right now we fear the building might collapse. It’s been very tough to fight and until the fire is totally out we are not going, ” he said.
However, after the smoke cleared they observed that the flames had already destroyed multiple Zongo Lane shops and warehouses.
Meanwhile, no injuries were recorded as many shop owners were absent when the fire started.
According to the GNFS, they have launched an investigation into the incident as the cause of the fire was not immediately known.