Nbr — A serious fire outbreak in the North Bank Region's commercial town of Farafenni burnt down at least six shops, on Thursday night, at the community's smaller market known to the local dwellers as 'Marche Keja', located at the eastern side of the Kerewan garage. At the time of putting this piece together, the cause of the fire was yet to be established, but many believed it was caused by an electric fault..

Speaking to our correspondent in the region, a shopkeeper and one of the victims, Kemo Manneh, said a friend had telephoned him about the disaster at the market, but lamented that on his arrival, he already found his shop completely consumed by the inferno. Manneh indicated that the materials consumed at the shop were recently bought at the tune of 25, 000 and 20, 000 Dalasis in two consignments.

Business partners in joint venture, Abdou Njie and Ass Ndow, who were also victims of the inferno also claimed to have lost 16, 000 Dalasis worth of materials in the disaster. Another victim, Baboucarr Leigh said he lost an estimated 64, 000 Dalasis in the inferno. For Sulayman Nyang, also a victim, a total amount of two million CFA, equivalent to 150, 000 Dalasis worth of materials was consumed by the fire.

Meanwhile, the governor of the region, Lamin Queen Jammmeh, accompanied by a high powered delegation including the commanding officer of the Second Infantry Battalion in Farafenni, Lt. Colonel Yahya Y. Drammeh; the commissioner of immigration in the area, Cherno Nyasi; the chief executive officer of Kerewan Area Council, Momodou Jallow; the regional disaster coordinator, Momodou Ceesay; and the commissioner of police ,Momodou Sowe, visited the scene to assess the extent of the damage caused by the inferno, as well as to show solidarity to the victims.

In a brief statement of solidarity, the NBR governor enjoined the victims to keep faith and to know that disaster can happen at any time and at anywhere. He called on them to pay greater attention to issues of fire, while imploring on them to develop the culture of always saving money in the banks for safety.