Fire has gutted parts of the Mankessim market in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region Sunday evening around 10:20 pm.

Over 15 shops were burnt down into ashes while destroying other properties.

This is the third time fire has gutted Mankessim Market since January 2021.

An eyewitness Kofi Essandoh who spoke with Kasapa News’ Yaw Boagyan said the fire tore through mostly the wooden structures in the market.

According to the eyewitness, they just heard a loud sound and later saw smoke emerging from the wooden structures which spread into some 15 other shops.

A fire Officer Luis Buckman said it was an arduous task entering the market to douse the flames due to the overcrowding and poor planning of the shops within the market.

He said all the structures in the market are old and outmoded and need to be renovated.

The fire officer suspects the flames might have emanated from a cooking fire in one of the wooden stores.