A huge fire broke out in Quang Ngai Market in Quang Ngai city in the central province of Quang Ngai at 3 am today morning (Feb 9) and destroyed the entire market.
A 32-year-old trader named Tran Thi Hai Van, owner of a clothes shop in the market told SGGP that about 5.30 am, when she came to the Pham Van Dong square with the intent of offering flowers, she saw flames leap out in the market.
She said her family owned two kiosks in the market that were stacked with a large pile of clothes and which were now all burnt in the fire. She estimated her loss would be about VND1 billion.
Nguyen Thai Anh, another witness said that he saw the fire start from a footwear shopping area and spread rapidly to other parts of the market.
Three hours after the fire started, fire fighters were still struggling to put out the blaze. Fire engines and a full contingent of fire fighters were mobilised to the scene but they had difficulty reaching the blaze because the path to the market was blocked by hundreds of temporary stalls.
Soon as they were informed by local residents, the local fire brigade sent nine fire engines and hundreds of firemen to the market, which is located between three major streets, Nguyen Nghiem, Ngo Quyen and Nguyen Ba Loan.
Huynh Chanh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee said that there were 512 commercial enterprises in the market and the preliminarily cost of damage is estimated at hundreds of billion dong.
The fire was too big and the equipment to fight the fire was insufficient, so until 9 am the fire could still not be put out. Fortunately there had been no reports of any human casualties so far, Chanh added.
The Binh Son Petro-chemical Refinery Company sent two fire trucks on their own to help in extinguishing the fire.
By 9 am, the fire was seen rising to heights of tens of metres, and had already engulfed the entire market, including a large number of stalls, including those selling fabrics, garments, cosmetics, cakes and candy, according to a SGGP reporter who went to the scene and reported the incident.
The firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby residential areas in close proximity to the market.
Soon after receiving the news, Vo Van Thuong, the provincial Party Committee Secretary along with other leaders of the province rushed to the scene to direct efforts to extinguish the fire. The city sent hundreds of police officers to the scene to assist in extinguishing the fire and maintaining order in the area, comrade Thuong said.
The city leaders have instructed a team to estimate the loss and discuss steps to help the victims of the fire, Thuong added.
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire and identify losses.
