A 17-year-old boy has died in a raging fire incident in Kapoeta market in Eastern Equatoria State.
Simon Vitau perished in a Sunday mid-night inferno that also reduced eight shops to ashes.
Local authorities said the cause of the fire remained unclear, adding that Civil Defense Forces were investigating the matter.
Michael Lokuwa Karlos, Safety Officer for Civil Defense Service in the Greater Kapoeta, told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that more losses could have been incurred were it not for the intervention of the night patrol teams that helped with putting out the fire.
“The fire broke out at around 12:30 am midnight in the business centre where ‘Warawara’ and tobacco are sold, and nobody knows the source of the fire. It was witnessed by the patrol team who intervened and found that one person had died inside the shops,” he said.
“The shops near bakeries were the most affected because they are too congested, all in one line. Everybody should keep his/her surroundings clean. Where the wildfire started was too bushy and dirty,” he added.
Elia John Lokuda, Mayor of Kapoeta Town Municipal Council, confirmed the incident, saying security personnel had been deployed to investigate it.
He urged citizens to prioritize the construction of concrete shops in the main market to minimize such incidents.
“Commodities such as groundnuts, clothes, soap and food commodities were burnt in many shops, and I am appealing to our people to prioritize building concrete structures,” he said.
Adam, a local trader, said he survived death narrowly after being rescued by a group of people who used water to reduce the inferno.
“We heard the sound of the fire burning, and people were crying, others in loud voices. So when we came outside and saw the fire burning, people were pouring water on the fire, and this is what helped us; we would not have survived. In this case, it’s the role of government to do what it can to address such cases because we rely on the government for solutions,” he appealed.