Millions lost in downtown inferno

Property worth millions of Francs was destroyed when fire gutted Quartier Matheus, a busy shopping hub in downtown Kigali, yesterday. Early estimates put the losses in excess of Rwf60 million. According to eyewitnesses, the fire broke out at around 5:30pm from one of the warehouses where most merchandise is usually stacked away before it’s put on sale, and the blaze quickly spread to other nearby stores. However, there were no casualties. Dozens of businesses operate from Quartier Matheus, most of them dealing in clothes, mattresses, electronics and general consumer goods. Eyewitnesses said the fire was brought under control following rapid intervention of the police fire brigade team, who managed to put off the fire before it could spread to nearby shops. It took them almost three hours to quell the blaze. Rwanda National Police Spokesperson, ACP Theos Badege, who was at the scene, told Sunday Times that Police was yet to establish the cause of the fire. “Investigations have just started. We shall communicate details after our fire brigade team has done full inspection and ascertained the facts,” he said. Badege called on traders to be vigilant and report any sign of fire in their shops. He said the fire was brought “under control before long” and traders managed to save some of their goods before they could catch fire. Traders who lost merchandise in the Central Business District fire put the destroyed property in the region of Rwf60 million. “I have lost goods worth Rwf2.5 million... I really don’t know what to do. I had just imported stocks of clothes from Dubai,” lamented Theoneste Masonga, one of the affected traders. In the past, Kigali has experienced fire incidents that have left millions of properties destroyed. In 2010, a fire gutted then B-Club Discotheque, located in the swanky Nyarutarama suburb. Other popular Kigali hangouts that have been ruined in similar circumstances include Executive Carwash in Kimihurura, Downtown Café, La Classe, and New Cadillac. In 2012, Volta Super Factory in Gikondo, Kicukiro District, also went up in flames. Schools have not been spared either, with the latest to be catch fire being Byimana School of Sciences in Ruhango District, where several dormitories were reduced to ashes. This was, however, a case of arsonists with the suspects who were all students at the same school arrested and sentenced to varying terms. In all these cases losses run into billions of Francs, especially considering that most of the destroyed properties were uninsured.