UGANDA, Jinja | Real Muloodi News | A raging fire destroyed Kakira Sugar Limited’s general supplies department stores on Friday evening in Jinja City, Eastern Uganda, destroying property worth millions of shillings.
The supplies department is Kakira’s biggest store, where every procured utility is initially housed before being distributed to the final sections for usage. The department was being used to host fridges, sugar plant servicing equipment, electrical items, vehicle spare parts and stationery.
The fire reportedly started at 7 pm, and was only contained at about 2 am on Saturday after joint efforts by the Kiira Region Fire and Rescue Services Department, alongside Kakira Sugar Factory’s Fire Department, and volunteers.
Three firefighter trucks and Kakira’s equipment struggled to put off the blazing fire that had already consumed the entire two-storey store.
There were fears the fire could spread to the main sugar mill just 50 meters away, thereby exposing the multi-billion shillings distillery where the Kakira Sugar factory makes gins, spirits and whiskeys which are highly flammable products.
About seven private firefighter trucks from various factories like Nile ply and Nytil were also used, but in vain.
The joint Managing Directors of Kakira Sugar Works, Mayur Madhvani and Kamlesh Madhvani, met to determine the cause of the fire and to also find means of calming the situation.
The Kiira regional police spokesperson, James Mubi, says the fire might have come from a blast within the supplies department. However, fire experts are yet to ascertain the real cause of the fire.
Mubi added that fortunate enough, all employees within the supplies department were safely rescued from their respective work units.
This is not the first fire in Jinja City this year. On Wednesday, April 6th this year, a fire burnt down 25 stalls in Napier market, in the Southern Division of Jinja City. The fire broke out at night affecting mainly grocery stores and live chicken kiosks.
Fire outbreaks in commercial places are becoming a common and recurring problem.
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