Fire outbreak in Rumbek market in Lakes State. (-)

A fire outbreak burned three shops in Lakes State capital Rumbek on Christmas Day, leaving traders counting losses, including 2.3 million South Sudan pounds, according to the police.

Lakes Police Spokesman Major Elijah Mabor Makuac said the inferno erupted at 10 AM on Wednesday in one of the shops belonging to certain Amir Jidu in the main market.

Makuac explained that the fire started when the shop’s owners were not around and people tried to extinguish it with buckets of water after it already caused damage.

He said that although the police were informed late, they managed to coordinate with the fire brigade service and UNMISS fire division to minimize the damage.

“We called them, and our forces intervened immediately in advance followed by a fire brigade and we fought the fire until it was reduced, and again the UNMISS managed to reinforce us with their firefighters,”, he said.

He said the fire was brought under control although the row of three shops including a computer training center were burnt into ashes.

“All of them have burned into ashes. Nothing was rescued except the last shop which was the few items. A variety of food items and other essential items were recovered, but the rest is damaged, and even the roofing and the wall have got cracked and it can collapse at any time.”

The police official said they have arrested and detained two suspects believed to be behind the fire for questioning in case of any human error, although they have not been officially arrested.

“We have detained almost two people, and they are still there and we shall continue to investigate them to find out exactly what is the caused of fire out.”

“They are the ones who occupied the shop, and these are the shop owners and we need them for the sake of investigation to identify what was the cause of the fire inside the shop.”

He said many people in the state are not aware about precautionary measures regarding fire incidents and appealed to them to often call fire authorities for rescue.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Bakic Derkeny Manyiel, owner of one of the gutted shops said the incident which destroyed his computer training center, studio, and salon was likely caused by a faulty generator power.

“The only few things we have managed to rescue are six laptops near to us and the rest including all desktop computers, decoders, and even solar systems that we have set up for use in our computer training center have all got burnt.”

According to him, when the fire erupted, dozens of people opted to stand around and film the disaster instead of lending a hand to help.

“We need to join our hands and help each other because people were many before. So instead of taking pictures and taking video, if they would have stopped doing that thing, they would have helped us to rescue a lot of things.”

Amir Jidu Abdallah, one of the businessmen who lost his goods said he did not open his shop and was enjoying Christmas with his friends when he was told of the fire.

“Everything for sure got burned, bags of flour, sugar, and all the related food items. There is nothing that has been rescued and about four (4) freshers have got burnt and we were just at home.”

He said the total amount of money that got burned inside his shop was 2.314 million South Sudan pounds.

Fire accidents are often reported in marketplaces across South Sudan during the dry season, and most cases end in significant damage and losses due to delayed emergency response from the fire brigade service.

On December 19, 2024, a massive fire engulfed a section of Konyo-Konyo Market in Juba – destroying large columns of shops at the sprawling business center as firefighters delayed their response, according to eyewitnesses.

People who spoke to Eye Radio from the scene narrated chaotic scenes in a makeshift part of the market where traders were scrambling to save a few belongings.