36 shops burnt to ashes fires guts Pibor Market

JUBA – Local South Sudanese traders are counting losses after the main market was gutted by fire in Pibor town of the Greater Pibor Administration Area.

According to Pibor town mayor John Gai, more than 36 lock-up shops were destroyed to ashes in the inferno that broke out late last night.

“As we speak now, 36 shops have been burned to ashes and valuable properties have been destroyed by the fire,” Gai told Sudans Post in a phone interview on Monday.

Gai said the investigations suggest that the fire started in one of the shops and spread further.

“The solar power blasted in one of the shops and fire immediately caught curtains and then it spread to other shops,” Gai said.

According to Town Mayor Gai, the fire outbreak occurred at 2:00 AM last night.

“The fire outbreak started last night at around 2:00 PM and we were woken up by fire flames when we reach the scene, we found four shops were completely burned.”

He says officials will inspect the damage and consider how those affected can be compensated.

He added that the fire was brought under control after an effort by traders and residents with some business people reporting that they lost everything in stock.

He said there was no life lost, and neither did anyone sustain injuries.

“There was no loss of life and nobody was injured in the incident. Only several shops and valuable properties were destroyed,” he said.