Yei residents scan through the ashes of more than 300 shops razed in a Wednesday night fire outbreak. (-)

The Commissioner of Yei River County Agrey Cyrus Kanyikwa said about three hundred twenty-five shops were gutted in a fire outbreak in the town on Wednesday evening.

The incident occurred at 7:20pm at the Dar el Salam market in Yei town, according to Mr. Kanyikwa, who added that only 12 shops survived the blaze.

He added that three of the shop vendors were admitted to the hospital after fainting as a result of the losses.

Commissioner Kanyikwa said in an interview with Eye Radio the fire is suspected to have started from a tea place.

“The total number of Vendors and shops that are burned are 325, at least 12 were left,” he said.

“The situation of the shops owners is disparate some of them collapsed and are admitted in the hospital. Three collapsed and are admitted in the hospital. It is unfortunate that the market is burned down.”

Fire outbreaks remain a common occurrence in South Sudan due to a dysfunctional fire fighting and control service as traders in Juba and the states often incur huge and irreparable losses.

Commissioner Kanyikwa further said his administration is planning to introduce strict measures to ensure that future fire hazards are avoided and controlled through spacing of shops and provision of fire extinguishers in every shop.

He added that there will also be daily inspections every evening to ensure that all shops are safe before the markets closes.

“At our level we are going to consider controlling the market. All the 325 shops and vendors in the market are placed within a space of 80 by 60 meters and it is unusual to accommodate that big number.”

“We will be looking at creating space because we are also loosing revenue. We will take measure of introducing fire extinguishers to each shop and we will also ensure that before the closure of the shops or market, there should be inspection to ensure the market is safe.”