Two shopping galleries, Le Parisien and Ndayizamba, in the center of Burundi’s economic capital Bujumbura were engulfed by fire early Friday morning, leaving traders devastated as firefighters battled to contain the blaze.
The fire broke out at about 6 a.m. at the Le Parisien and Ndayizamba galleries. The extent of the damage and the cause of the fire were not immediately known.
The flames were still burning at around 11 a.m., raising fears that the fire could spread to nearby public buildings despite efforts by civil protection police and the Red Cross to contain it.
Vice President Prosper Bazombanza and other senior officials, including Interior and Public Security Minister Léonidas Ndaruzaniye, visited the scene.
Ndaruzaniye said authorities and traders should consider restricting the use of charcoal-burning irons in such galleries, although he did not say that such an iron had caused Friday’s fire.
“We would like to remind traders and administrators that, given the activities carried out in such multi-storey galleries in the city centre, it would be necessary to seriously consider whether charcoal-burning irons should continue to be used,” he said.
Traders who had shops in the affected galleries were left struggling to assess their losses.
Overwhelmed by the destruction, some said they could not yet estimate the value of goods lost in the blaze.
The fire is the latest in a series of market fires reported across Burundi in recent months. Recent incidents have included fires at Ngozi central market, in northern Burundi, as well as the Jabe timber market and Kinama market in Bujumbura, all of which suffered major damage.
The repeated fires have raised concerns over fire safety and access for emergency services in the city’s crowded commercial areas.
In July, Bujumbura provincial governor Aloys Ndayikengurukiye warned that many of the city’s shopping galleries lacked access lanes that would allow firefighting vehicles to reach burning buildings.
“It is obvious that the galleries do not have access lanes. In the event of fires, it would be very difficult for fire engines to intervene,” Ndayikengurukiye said at the time, calling on gallery owners to provide passages for emergency vehicles.
Speaking a few hours after the fire broke out, Gabriel Rufyiri, chairman of the local civil society organization OLUCOME, called on the National Security Council to meet urgently to clarify the cause of the blaze for the public and victims and take measures to protect citizens, according to local newspaper Iwacu.
Authorities have not yet announced whether anyone was killed or injured in Friday’s fire.
