On the night of this Thursday, a stall owned by Mr. Bodmas at the central market in the city of Lichinga, Niassa province, northern Mozambique, was consumed by flames, causing significant damage.
The fire is believed to have started around 7:25 PM, and
according to a witness named Joaquim, the fire was caused by a short circuit in
a stall selling car and motorcycle parts.
“At around 6:30 PM, we started seeing the lights in the
stall flickering, turning on and off, and suddenly we saw smoke rising from the
roof. While we were trying to communicate with the stall owner, others were
going up to provide first aid, but it was in vain. We had no means to stop it
because the fire had already spread throughout the whole building,” said
Joaquim.
Minutes later, the owner, upon arriving, made efforts to
contact the firefighters but was not immediately attended to.
"When I received the call that my stall was on fire,
I went directly to the fire department to ask for help. They promised they
would come soon, but after waiting for a few minutes, I went back there. They
claimed the fire truck's battery was having issues. Concerned, I took a battery
to a friend's stall, and when we arrived with the battery, they said the fuel
pump wasn't feeding the car. We gave up on them. Another person went to ask for
help from the airport's fire department, but with no success. They said the
truck had problems, while here at the stall, with the help of the population,
we were trying to remove the items, but nothing was salvaged,” he lamented.
After the media team became aware of the incident, they
went to the scene to gather information but were assaulted by a Nigerian
citizen while trying to report the fire at the market.
According to the reporters, the assailant is the owner of
one of the shops that was on fire. In addition to assaulting cameraman Mixaque
Lucas, who sustained injuries to his lip, the assailant also damaged equipment
from TV Sucesso, specifically the wireless microphone.
However, the stall owner denied any involvement in the
assault and claimed it was the local population that expelled the reporters.
“Hours later, the TV Sucesso team came to film the
incident, and the population attacked them, thinking it was an abuse. We asked
for help from the firefighters, but they didn’t come. What are you going to
help with, with your television?” said the affected person.
The population and market vendors were mobilized to
extinguish the flames, which was successfully achieved by midnight, even
without the presence of the firefighters.
According to the owner of the stall selling car parts and
accessories, the damage was substantial, with preliminary estimates exceeding
twenty million meticais.
In terms of human damage, one person sustained minor
injuries and is receiving medical care. (Ma
Mataka)
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