Musanze: Over Rwf 100 million commodities ravaged in a fire accident

By The Inspirer writer.

A commercial building in Musanze town was burnt due to fire accident on this Tuesday, destroying many products of different types.

Although the cause of the incident remains unknown, the first arrivals say that it may have come from the bread oven in one of the commercial buildings.

Collette Nyiransengimana who sells glasses in one of the rooms of this building told IGIHE that the fire was very intense.

“We were the first to arrive and tried to save some commodities; it was a terrible fire! It was not easy because the fire was very intense. They were telling us that it was the restaurant that caused the fire, but it is not yet confirmed.” Nyiransengimana said.

She lauds efforts by the Police for their assistance, saying that they need a help as the incident caused a lot of damage and losses that will affect their wellbeing.

“By estimation, damaged commodities worth Rwf5million. So, you understand why we need support. We used to pay rent and such a loss is terrible for our development.”

Jean Marie Rutaysire who dealt with photography and fashion for wedding said that he lost commodities worth over Rwf8million. He advises traders to have insurance of their commodities, and himself did not have any insurance.

“They called me around 4.00 am and told me that the building is on fire. I would advise those who have not had an accident like this to have their commodities insured to avoid such an unexpected loss.”

Northern Province Police Spokesperson, SSP Alex Ndayisenga said that they knew about the incident at 5:00 am and confirmed that the fire was very intense.

“The fire was intense, considering that the building had had warehouses, ovens, and the fact that it is an old building; it was very easy to be on fire due to the materials of the old building and other hard materials that were inside.” SSP Alex Ndayisenga said.

He warned traders and building owners to put the commodities and houses in insurance scheme to avoid future losses from such incidents as they invest to get the returns.

“The building is owned by one person, and it had no insurance, and none of the vendors embraced insurance schemes. Businesspeople should value insurance, if you invest money in building you should think about insurance because losses come unexpectedly,” he said.

Of the 19 rooms that were part of this building, six were severely affected, while some commodities in the remaining six rooms were rescued.

Even though the inventory is still being done, so far damaged commodities worth around Rwf 130 million.